


Whispers in the Dark

by SennyriNamis23



Series: The Destiny of an Alliance [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: Female Sith Warrior as Outlander, MOSTLY SW/LANA CONTENT, Multi, and bakes it for 350 degrees F for half an hour, because fuck you bioware, imagine canon as a beautiful food, in the amount it likes, it more or less looks like canon but it's definitely not actually game-canon, picks and chooses the ingredients it likes, takes the recipe for canon, this story takes canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2019-04-22 04:31:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 65,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14300859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SennyriNamis23/pseuds/SennyriNamis23
Summary: Raelyn Politryk - the former Emperor's Wrath and now Outlander - has been rescued by Lana Beniko and her estranged brother, Raj. Now she must return to the Alliance she has dreamed of, and must put her plans into action while also dealing with an Emperor-parasite who threatens to rip apart everything she's worked for. Including her relationship with the woman she loves.A re-telling of Knights of the Eternal Throne with some fixes/glosses of canon and a strong emphasis on the progression of the relationship between Raelyn and Lana. But there will be other stories of the Alliance thrown in, as well. It takes a village to overthrow a tyrant, after all.





	1. The Outlander

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! Warnings in this chapter for depictions of nausea and general pain from being thawed from carbonite.

_Raelyn._

_Raelyn, my love, wake up._

She practically choked as she inhaled, spluttering and heaving loudly as the carbonite prison that held her melted away. The light of the room blinded her, the sounds of machinery and voices were deafening after so much silence, the smells of metal and chemicals overwhelming. But the hand that held hers was familiar, comforting even as her stiff fingers struggled to wrap around it.

“Lana,” she rasped, still gasping for breath. There was fire in her blood and she groaned as she lost the strength to hold onto her. But Lana only grasped her tighter.

“I’m here,” came the sure reply, “Give yourself a moment while the antidote courses through your body.”

A second voice became clear, somewhere behind her, “Sorry, Lana, we don’t have time. Teeseven says there are loads of Skytroopers headed our way. We gotta get out of here.”

“Very well,” she replied quietly, “Raelyn, we’re going to get you out of here. Can you hold on to Raj?”

“Raj?” she whispered, hardly managing more.

“It’s been awhile, sis. We can catch up later, though, yeah?”

She nodded faintly and felt someone slide their arms beneath her and lift her in their arms. He held her close to his body, protecting her from the jolts and rumbles as he and Lana fought their way out of the hallways and rooms. Raelyn slid in and out of a painful consciousness, one moment keenly aware of the sounds and smells around her, the next only knowing her own pain. She could feel Lana beside her, her Force signature pulsing bright as a star in Raelyn’s dimmed awareness, and when she was awake, she focused on her as much as she could. The only other person she could rightly focus on was Raj, her wayward younger brother who now held her in his arms. She could feel his arms wrapped around her, holding her close to his chest so she didn’t get bounced around - she could feel his heartbeat against her shoulder, she could feel it racing with fear and determination and physical exertion. Raj was soundly alive, something she hadn’t even known of herself for only stars know how long.

Valkorion was mercifully quiet, but his presence still lurked in the edges of her mind, watching and waiting like a predator stalking his prey. He was testing her - her recovery, her strength, her patience, her resolve. That much she knew. But she had no idea why.

Slowly, the pain lessened and Raelyn’s vision returned, the blinding white lights dimming as time passed. She turned her head to the side to see where she was, but the labyrinth of metal and glass walls were unfamiliar. She couldn’t even remember where she last was, to be honest. Zakuul? Was she still there? Had Arcann kept her in the Spire this whole time? She had no idea, and now did not seem like the time to ask.

“Raj, we have a problem,” Lana commented with only a little panic in her voice as they skittered to a halt.

“Just one!?” Raj replied in a heavy exhale, significantly more panicked, “We’ve already hacked our way through a battalion of skytroopers and Knights, what else-”

Lana’s brilliant red-orange lightsaber deflected a rogue blaster shot into the ground before it made an arc back behind him, slicing the guilty skytrooper in two and returning to the Sith’s hand easily.

“Vaylin is here.”

“Oh shit,” Raj muttered, more of a rumble in his chest than a voiced comment, “How much of a head start do we have?”

“Not much, to be honest. But hopefully it will be enough.”

Raj’s commlink beeped and Raelyn flinched at the sound of it so close to her.

Lana put a hand to her ear, “Koth? Tell me you’re close.”

Raelyn tried to remember if she’d ever met a “Koth” before, before her imprisonment with the worst roommate ever.

His voice crackled through Raj’s earpiece, “Uhh, yeah I’m gonna need… about three minutes?”

“I don’t know if we have three minutes, dear,” Raj replied, shifting Raelyn so she was a little more comfortable in his arms. He must have been getting tired from holding her by this point.

“Well, if I land now, I’ll get shot to pieces. Just think of it as a personal favor to me, huh? Quick through another tower and I’ll find you.”

The sounds of blaster fire echoed through Raj’s comm, and Lana just sighed heavily before she put her hands in front of her towards the door.

“Alright, be careful, yeah?” Raj answered back to this Koth person.

“Will do.”

The air rippled and crackled as Lana pushed a wall of the Force through her hands towards the stuck security door. It made a horrifying noise as metal buckled in its frame, but it refused to budge.

“Oh gods, Lana, you’re going to bring the whole building down on us,” Raj warned, “You can’t just use the terminal to open that?”

“Umph, _no_ ,” she replied shortly, gathering strength in her arms again, “The entire building is on lockdown, I can’t override it with Senya’s key.”

He shifted Raelyn again, clearly his arms were exhausted, “Can’t we get Teeseven to do it?”

“ _Teeseven_ … is currently setting off every alarm in a three block radius and keeping Vaylin off our trail,” she retorted through gritted teeth, “I will handle the  _door_.”

Raelyn opened her mouth, about to offer to help or at least stand on her own, but as soon as she made the motion to speak, Lana surged at the door again and it gave way, leaving enough of an opening for the three of them to leap through. Well, two of them, seeing as Raelyn wasn’t going to do any leaping. She did wrap her arms around Raj’s neck, though, in an attempt to help him support her and free one of his arms a bit. He seemed surprised at the movement, but didn’t say anything about it. Instead, he grabbed one of his blasters and took out a couple skytroopers who were threatening to attack them. Lana leapt ahead, wiping out the rest of the skytroopers in the hallway with her lightsaber in precise and elegant strokes.

As they exited there was another horrific crash in front of them, the noise and light from the electrical explosions overwhelming even Raj and Lana as they came to a grinding halt on the platform. Raelyn heard Koth’s voice again from Raj’s earpiece.

“Oh shit, Vaylin just blew the sun reactor for this sector. If you don’t stop it from exploding, it’ll kill everyone for miles!”

“Koth, we don’t have time for this,” Lana protested, “We’ll all die if we try to stop it.”

“Warning, catastrophic reactor failure imminent,” the monotone voice of the alarm system blared all around them as technicians were racing away from the initial blast.

“Don’t you dare,” Koth warned, “You can still shut it down! Half the city will go dark, but the people who live and work here will still have a chance!”

Raj’s gaze shifted from the reactor to Lana to the Zakuulan skyline and back to the reactor; his arms twitched as he tried to decide what to do. Raelyn pushed off from him a little, urging him to let her feet down so she could stand on her own.

She cleared her throat and looked up to him, but her voice was still husky, “Go, Raj. Lana and I will stay here - you go stop the reactor.”

He hesitated to let her go, but she’d already wrapped herself around Lana’s arm. Lana was none too pleased at this situation, however.

“Do you see the lengths they’ll go to stop us?” she protested, “We have to get of here now.”

Raelyn shook her head, and looked right in Lana’s golden eyes, “I won’t let thousands of people die on account of me, Lana.”

Raj put his hand to his ear, evidently answering a question Raelyn couldn’t hear, “Yeah, Koth, hang on, we’re figuring it out.”

“You don’t have much time,” Raelyn urged, her voice a little stronger, “I’ll be fine. Go.”

\---

Raj looked from Lana to Raelyn, waiting for some sort of retort from the Sith against this plan of action. But Lana said nothing, her scowl turning into a worried furrow as she turned back to the reactor.

“Alright,” he nodded, “I’ll meet you two at the emergency lift.”

Raelyn met his gaze, her eyes fierce and bright despite the fact that she could hardly stand on her own and every breath looked like it caused more pain than he’d ever been in before in his entire life. It was really a miracle she was alive at all after everything she’d been through.

“Be safe, Raj. We’ll see you there.”

He took off towards the ramp down to the reactor controls, which had been abandoned by its technicians moments before. The reactor crackled and popped threateningly, long tendrils of bright white light extending over the area. Funny, he couldn’t remember ever running to his inevitable death before. Of course, he couldn’t ever remember thinking that his inevitable death was _funny_ , either.

“Koth,” he called into his earpiece, “Do you know anything about these things? What am I looking at?”

“Sorry, babe, I got nothing,” Koth answered, “Got my own situation here.”

Raj cursed every god he could think of along with his own sense of decency, “Damn. Alright, be safe out there. I… I love you.”

“Same to you,” came the garbled and staticked reply, “Wouldn’t want this to be the last time you proclaimed that. Love you, too.”

He took a deep breath and stepped up to the terminal, cracking his knuckles as he tried to process the screen in front of him. Of course it was in Zakuulan, it would make no sense at all for it to be in Basic, but that didn’t stop Raj from being a little disappointed - languages were never his strongest skill. He scanned the lines for anything he might have understood or even recognized, but no, it was all a bunch of quickly scrolling jibberish. Excellent.

“Alright, alright, we can do this, just… relax.”

The reactor made another loud crash.

“Ah!” he cried, jumping back and ducking instinctively. But the place didn’t blow.

“Warning, catastrophic reactor failure imminent,” the alarm system called again.

“Fuck! I know! I’m working on it!” he shouted in reply.

Raj looked up at the reactor, squinting through the increasingly bright light emanating from it. He really didn’t have much time. He stood again and stepped back up to the terminal, which had been thoroughly destroyed in the last explosion.

Shit.

He looked out the window at the reactor, his eyes tracking the path of its power source to two conduits on the bridge. That might be something he could work with. Power down the conduits, take the source of the reactor’s power out of the equation? Where was Noghea when you needed her…

“Well, here goes nothing,” he muttered.

He practically danced his way to the conduits as he tried to avoid the wayward lightning thrown out by the reactor, sidestepping and bouncing away from the blasts. Dance lessons. There was a thought. Something to do after all this was over - assuming he got out of it alive.

The conduit flashed a warning in huge red letters, and with Raj’s somewhat limited grasp of Zakuulan, it was either saying the power was overloading or the dragon was getting fat. He went with the former, seeing as how there wasn’t a dragon around. He searched the keyboard frantically for some sort of override or reset button, but upon finding none decided to hit the biggest red button he could see and hope for the best. He was gonna die anyway, right?

The screen went black.

The conduit powered down.

The reactor whined and crackled, but with only one conduit remaining, it recovered with a vengeance, spitting out lightning more rapidly and although it was less powerful than before, it would still have killed Raj if he gave it the chance.

“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit,” he chanted as he raced for the other conduit, jumping and spinning from the blasts again.

He slammed the red button on the second conduit without even reading the screen, listening intently to hear it power down and watching the reactor.

The screen went black.

The conduit powered down.

But the reactor didn’t settle. There was still power flowing to it from the main junction.

“No no no no no no,” he repeated, once again on the move, his heart beating out of his chest.

“Warning, catastrophic reactor failure imminent,” the alarm system called again.

“No, fuck you!”

He skidded around the corner back into the security station, looking around the room for a way to shut down the main power junction. But unlike the conduits outside, the terminal had been shattered completely and there was no big red button.

Raj ran his hands down his face, “ _What do you want from me!?_ ”

The power station pulsed, and the electrical tendrils threatened to escape their allotted paths up the tower. In a moment of frustration and exasperation he pulled out his blaster.

“Fuck you!” he yelled, turning his head from the tower of doom and pulling the trigger.

The tower did not take to that too kindly, as a wall of energy knocked Raj off his feet and sent him sliding across the floor. He gasped for breath as he stared at the ceiling, trying to get enough air in his lungs that he could warn Lana about the reactor. There wasn’t much chance that he could get out in time, but maybe his sister could-

“Reactor shutdown sequence initiated. Warning: grid integrity at risk.”

Raj jerked up into a sitting position. The main junction tower was dark, the reactor was dimming rapidly, buildings all around him were losing their power. But he’d done it. Holy shit, he’d powered down the reactor. And he didn’t even die!

He fell back on the floor laughing and crying all at once.

“Raj? Raj, are you there?” Lana’s broken voice filtered through his earpiece. Not really a surprise given what sort of electrical surge he’d just been hit with.

He lifted a hand to it, “Yeah, I’m here. Reactor’s all good.”

“I can see that,” she replied, “Are you alright? Can you still meet us at the lift?”

He rolled over and pushed himself to his knees. A little wobbly, but otherwise unharmed.

“Yeah, I’m good, Lana. I’ll meet you up there in a minute.”

\---

As Raj raced down the ramp to the reactor controls, Raelyn’s legs gave out from under her and she crumpled to the ground in a heap. Lana crouched down in front of her, but Raelyn put her hands in front of her before she could speak.

“I’m alright,” she preempted through gritted teeth, forcing a shaky breath through her nose and feeling a crippling pain in her side. Stars, every inhale burned in her chest as her lungs refused to expand. She was already feeling lightheaded and she’d only borne her own weight for all of two minutes.

“Hmm yes, I can see that,” Lana replied flatly, holding out her hand to the other woman.

Raelyn brushed it off and pushed herself to her feet, only to immediately lose her balance and fall to the ground again. Damn her legs. Damn her broken body. Damn this planet for holding her prisoner and now threatening to kill her and the woman she cared about most.

In the back of her mind there was a harsh and mocking laugh.

Lana gently took Raelyn’s arm and slung it over her shoulders, “Come, let me help you.”

She snarled without thinking about it, “I am perfectly capable of getting up _my damn self_!”

Lana sighed tiredly.

“Not even an hour ago you were thawed out of a carbonite tomb,” she explained, her voice strained and wavering, “you are still suffering from the effects of the carbonite poisoning. The fact that you are alive and conscious at all is a miracle! Do not allow your pride to get us all killed now!”

“I need to-”

“Warning, catastrophic reactor failure imminent,” the alarm system blared in the background, making Raelyn put a hand to her ear.

Lana took her hand and gently laced their fingers together, speaking quietly, “I need you to stay alive, Raelyn. I have fought too long and come too far to watch you die now.”

Without any further ado, Lana hauled both of them up off the duracrete floor and took almost all of Raelyn’s weight. She clenched her eyes shut, wrapping her free hand around her waist painfully. But she hobbled beside Lana to the lift, leaning on her despite her efforts not to. But, as always, Lana was right; as much as she hated to admit it, Raelyn was weak. Her head was pounding from the light and the sounds of the reactor, her legs were like jelly beneath her, her stomach and chest were burning as they remembered how to function. Everything hurt. Everything hurt like hell.

_I can help you with that._

_Fuck off, Valkorion. Go back to whatever hidey hole you came from._

_Tsk tsk, my dear Wrath, after all I’ve done for you, this is how you repay me? With petty insults and rejections of my aid?_

_Don’t try to manipulate me into accepting your help. I’ll never take it._

_No? I thought a powerful Sith such as yourself would know the price of weakness. The weak are culled, my dear Wrath. Only the strong survive. I could make you strong again, Wrath, but you must accept my aid._

“ _Never! I am not weak!_ ” she cried aloud, almost falling to the ground again if not for Lana wrapping her arm more tightly around Raelyn’s waist and holding her upright.

“Raelyn?” she asked, a hint of panic in her voice, “Raelyn, what’s going on?”

She shook her head, struggling to even get the words out of her mouth, “Nothing. Nothing that can’t wait.”

Lana was clearly dubious, but the alarm system went off again and cut off any reply she might have had.

“Warning, catastrophic reactor failure imminent.”

Raelyn heaved in another terrible breath, her entire body shuddering from the effort it took even to do that much. She felt Lana’s hand hold her waist tighter, clenching into a fist and bearing even more of her weight as they continued their slow trek across the platform. The reactor popped and crackled behind them, and Raelyn sincerely hoped that Raj was alright. She knew next to nothing about him anymore, but he was still her brother. She still cared about him.

“Here, Rae,” Lana urged gently, lowering her so her back was against a wall, “There isn’t much we can do until Raj gets back. Take it easy.”

She slid to the ground obediently, now beyond the point of being able to fight back, and held Lana’s hand as tightly as she could as she clenched her eyes shut and wheezed out another breath. The other woman lowered herself to the floor far more gracefully and sat cross-legged across from her, reaching for Raelyn’s other hand. She squeezed them gently.

“Peace is a lie,” Lana recited slowly, sending small waves of the Force through Raelyn’s hands, “There is only passion.”

Raelyn could never forget the day she learned the Sith Code - she’d tried to bluff her first instructor, babbled out something meaningless and incomprehensible about the Light Side and Dark Side. Needless to say, her instructor was not impressed. She still had the scars on her back from the lashes she received after that.

“Through passion, I gain strength,” she replied, the Force from Lana having already reinvigorated her strength a bit, even if it hadn’t lessened the pain any.

She could feel Lana allowing herself a smile, her Force signature softening slightly as she continued, “Through strength, I gain power.”

“Through power, I gain victory.” Raelyn’s breaths were a little deeper now, a little fuller, felt a little less like acid sliding up and down her throat.

Lana pushed the Force a little more strongly through her palms, connecting their auras a little more tightly, passing her strength through the bond they shared as she recited the next lines, “Through victory, my chains are broken.”

Raelyn opened her eyes, blazing green meeting fiery gold, and she grinned as they spoke the last line in unison, “The Force shall set me free.”

Both Sith sat silently for a moment, taking in the sight of the other for as long as they could. Lana squeezed her hands and rubbed the backs of her knuckles with her thumbs, and Raelyn leaned forward and pressed their foreheads together. Lana’s powers would only strengthen her temporarily, but she felt nearly herself again. And with Lana this close to her, Raelyn finally felt like she was safe.

There was a loud crack from behind them and they broke contact to see what caused it. The reactor had gone dark, the noise apparently from its forced shutdown.

“Reactor shutdown sequence initiated. Warning: grid integrity at risk.”

The surrounding buildings quickly darkened, as well, the underlying electrical hum of the city suddenly going silent. Raj had succeeded.

Lana pulled one of her hands out of Raelyn’s and put it to her earpiece, “Raj? Raj, are you there?”

His voice came through her earpiece, nearly incomprehensible from all the static, “Yeah, I’m here. Reactor’s all good.”

“I can see that,” she replied with a relieved squeeze to Raelyn’s hand, “Are you alright? Can you still meet us at the lift?”

There was a pause before she heard him again, “Yeah, I’m good, Lana. I’ll meet you up there in a minute.”

She clicked off the receiver, putting her wonderfully cool hand to the other woman’s cheek. Raelyn pressed her head against Lana’s hand and closed her eyes, silently hoping that if she wished hard enough they could just teleport somewhere quiet and safe.

Valkorion laughed at her again, and she winced.

“Darling?” Lana asked, rubbing her thumb along Raelyn’s jawline, “Is everything alright?”

She shook her head, “Not in the slightest.”

Lana leaned forward slowly and pressed a gentle kiss to Raelyn’s forehead, sending butterflies through her stomach as if it wasn’t the hundredth time she’d done that, “Well, one thing at a time - let’s get off this accursed planet, shall we?”

“That would be nice,” she chuckled, silently shooing Valkorion out of her thoughts.

The blonde Sith stood up in one smooth motion, offering her hands to Raelyn, who took them and hauled herself to her feet. She shook out the lingering kinks in her legs while Lana took two lightsabers out of her pack and handed them to her.

Raelyn took them gratefully in her hands and ignited their silver blades, swinging the familiar weapons like they were extensions of her arms, a natural part of her own body. Oh, it felt good to have them back.

“Hey! You look better,” Raj announced as the lift came up and he joined them, “That’s a pretty snazzy trick, sis, you’ll have to teach me how you did that.”

Lana’s face hardened again, “Her strength has only temporarily returned. We should get moving.”

Raj looked from his sister to her partner and shrugged, “Alright. Don’t have to tell me twice.”

The three of them took off towards the location they’d agreed to meet Koth, carving their way through patrols of skytroopers as they went winding around the Spire complex in the darkness. The patterns and steps of combat came back to Raelyn as easily as breathing (at this point, perhaps even more so), immediately sliding back into her long-memorized movements. But every swing took a little more energy out of her, every leap took another second or two to recover from, every pirouette took a half second longer to complete. Lana’s saber devastated droid after droid, slicing through their chasses with incredible ease. And when they threatened to self-destruct, Lana threw out her hand and encased them in a purple Force shield, rendering the shrapnel harmless. Raj hung behind the two Sith, but his aim was impeccable, and Raelyn wasn’t sure she saw him miss a single target - but then again, she was also fighting battles of her own, including against the psychopath in her mind.

Valkorion said nothing as they trekked across the Spire, but she could feel him there, worming in her thoughts, in the privacy of her own mind. Her thoughts were not a public spectacle, thank you very much.

“Koth, what’s going on? Talk to me,” Raj said as they neared their destination without a shuttle in sight.

There was a pause as the pilot answered in the ears of the other two and Raelyn threw one her lightsabers at the gut of an approaching skytrooper. It came back to her at about her knees and she heard a crackling from her joints as she reached down to catch it before it sliced off her legs. Well, shit. Her strength was waning faster than she thought it would.

“Is that… blaster fire?” Raj asked. That probably wasn’t a good sign.

Lana threw out her free hand and shoved another skytrooper off the platform, sending it clanking to the depths of the city. It was oddly satisfying to watch and hear those things die, if Raelyn was being honest.

“Outlander!” a booming voice echoed from the other end of the dock and two Zakuulan Knights emerged in the darkness, igniting their own blue lightsaber pikes.

Raj’s eyes bugged at the sight of them, “We definitely don’t have three minutes, babe.”

The Knight repeated his call as the three of them readied their weapons, “Outlander! You are guilty of assassinating the Immortal Emperor and evading imprisonment!”

His partner flicked his wrist and ordered them, “We demand your immediate surrender!”

Raelyn spat on the ground next to her, “I was imprisoned long enough, I think! You can fuck right off!”

“Very well,” the first one replied as they lifted their weapons into striking positions.

“Uhh, what she meant was we would rather not! But thank you for the offer!” Raj reiterated in vain.

The Knights attacked simultaneously, the one on the left going for Raelyn, the one on the right for Lana. Raelyn threw up her lightsabers in an X, not trusting herself to dodge and recover in time. She’d met a Knight while she was captured by Arcann, and Valkorion had shown her a number of them in her dreams; she knew exactly what they were capable of. The Knight in front of her was strong, far stronger than she was. But Raj fired a few rounds to keep him off balance and Raelyn could outmaneuver him as he dodged the blaster attacks. She heard Lana go skidding backwards on the metal platform as the other Knight attacked her, but Lana growled out something incomprehensible but very angry, and Raelyn figured she was alright.

The Knight attacked her again, and even though she was mentally ready for it, her knees buckled when she started to spin out of the way, and it was only by a hair that she fell to the ground fast enough that the Knight’s mortal blow missed. But he recovered quickly, swinging upward with his pike as Raelyn went skittering backwards and Raj took a few shots at his back that were easily deflected by his armor and a Force shield. Raj swore behind his makeshift barricade, but Raelyn hardly had the strength to worry about him _and_ the Knight who bore down on her. He stalked her, circled her, dragging his lightsaber pike behind him, burning the floor in his wake, and sending up showers of sparks.

He stared her down, “Surrender, Outlander. You’re no match for us.”

“I’d rather die than return to that tomb,” she spat back, even as she lay supine on the ground.

“Tanek!” the other Knight called from far behind her, and in a flash of red light, Lana appeared in front of her, lightsaber matched against the Knight’s.

She pushed him off and twirled her lightsaber back into a striking position, not for a second moving her eyes from him. The two of them circled each other like beasts in a fighting ring, both of them a mere moment away from snarling and hissing and biting at the other.

Raj let off a round at the other Knight, hitting him in the foot and prohibiting him from joining his companion. The Knight let out a yelp, and a moment later, Raelyn felt Raj’s hands lifting her off the ground and supporting her stand.

Lana feigned left at the Knight in front of her, but as he surged to counterattack she spun deftly away, cutting upwards with her lightsaber. He leaned back and avoided the blow, but was left unbalanced. With a quick motion of her hand, Lana pushed him over and he landed with a thud on the ground.

“Tanek, run!” the other Knight cried, leaping up with his one uninjured foot onto the platform above them, out of Lana’s reach, “We’ll fight another day!”

But Lana already held Tanek by the neck, using the Force to lift him up off the ground about three inches. Raj flinched as the Knight struggled to breathe, grasping at the invisible hand clenching at his throat.

“You Knights,” she snarled, “You’re never taught to properly channel your anger.”

Raj looked like he wanted to stop her, to convince her to let him go. But Raelyn was far too tired and the spot on her chest where his pike had hit hurt too much to worry about trifling matters like morality in this moment. With a flick of her wrist, Lana broke the Knight’s neck and sheathed her lightsaber. The other Knight scurried away down the platform - Lana clearly had no desire to follow him.

“Koth?” her brother asked into his earpiece.

The reply was a loud rumbling and the appearance of a shuttle headed for them. It landed gently on the open platform and opened its ramp to let them all on board.

“Better hurry on!” came the call from the cockpit, “I could see Vaylin headed this way. And I do _not_ want to be here when she catches up.”

Lana took Raelyn from Raj, who joined the pilot - presumably Koth - up in front and settled into the seat beside him easily.

“Nice to see you, Captain,” her brother greeted, kissing the other man on the cheek softly.

Koth chuckled warmly, “You, too, Captain.”

The moment between the two men was gentle, soft, and Raelyn couldn’t help but wonder just how much she’d missed of Raj’s life since she’d last seen him as a teenager. The last letter she remembered getting from him was right before he defected so long ago - he was angry, disillusioned, lost. Not at all like the man who was laughing as they escaped one of the most powerful Force-users in the galaxy. The other, of course, was trapped in her own skull. And Valkorion never let her forget it.

_Puny mortals. Why I ever deigned that they were worthy of my rule over them is truly a mystery._

_If you don’t shut the fuck up, I swear I’ll jump out of this shuttle right now and we can both die._

_So dramatic..._

Lana let her lean against the starboard wall while she helped the two boys, clearly all three of them very used to working together in the small space. How long had she been imprisoned? What had happened while she was gone? But the shuttle lurched forward off the platform, and Raelyn’s insides threatened to become outsides, which pretty much immediately cut off that line of thinking.

She slid down the wall with an uncomfortable groan, the nausea overtaking any sort of strength she had left.

“Hey! No puking in my shuttle!” Koth called back, and Raelyn wasn’t sure if he was joking or not. Not that it mattered, given there wasn’t anything in her system to throw up anyhow.

The ship banked a hard left in that moment, and she clenched her eyes shut in some desperate hope that maybe if she couldn’t see the ship weaving around skyscrapers, she wouldn’t feel it, either.

Lana knelt down in front of her, pressing two fingers into her forearm and lacing their fingers together with her other hand, “You’ll be alright. This shall pass.”

It didn’t really feel like she was going to be alright, but whatever Lana was doing with her fingers seemed to push away the worst of it, at least.

“What can I do, Raelyn?” she asked after a moment of relative silence in the cockpit.

“Talk to me,” Raelyn managed, “How long was I gone? What happened while I was frozen?”

The whole shuttle seemed to stop, a collective breath drawn from the other three passengers. Lana replied quietly, “I’m not sure that’s a question you want answered at the moment.”

She squeezed her hands even more tightly, “Please.”

Lana paused, rubbing her thumb over Raelyn’s, and when she finally did speak she did so slowly, carefully, “It’s been five years.”

The sentence hit her like a freight train and she doubled over, shaking and dry heaving.

“Aren’t you glad you were already sitting down for that?” Raj offered as the shuttle banked right again.

“ _Rajamari Politryk_!” Lana hissed, and if Raelyn hadn’t clung onto her so desperately she might have done something more than that.

She tried to channel the Force through her body, to focus on its power, its energy, or really focus on anything that wasn’t her own discomfort. Stars, what a day this was turning out to be.

_I told you I could have helped you._

_Fuck off, old man._

_Hmm very well. You may wish to ask more politely next time._

“Raelyn?” Lana asked, putting a hand to her cheek.

She wiped her mouth with her sleeve and mustered her strength to answer, “Five years… What’s happened? Zakuul-?”

She cut off her own question, and it was the pilot who replied, “A lot’s happened in five years, Commander. Think you’ll want to wait on an answer for that.”

“Commander?”

Lana held her closer, rubbing her back slowly and gently, “One of the things that’s happened while you were… _absent_.”

Neither her hesitation nor her word choice was lost on Raelyn. Five years was a long time to be hidden away from the galaxy - it wasn’t really a surprise that she’d been presumed dead by the powers that be. There were many moments when she herself doubted she was alive. But evidently there were at least three people who believed she’d been alive, and she’d apparently assumed leadership of _something_ in the time she was frozen.

Her side cramped almost violently, and Lana immediately put a hand to it, imbuing whatever healing energies she could - though she, too, was waning by this point. Raelyn snuggled her head between her neck and shoulder, breathing in the scent of her, feeling her skin against her own, finding comfort there in the crook of her neck. Five years was a long time to be without Lana Beniko.

“Lana,” she began quietly enough so the boys probably couldn’t hear her over the engine rumbling.

“Yes?” she replied, just as softly.

Raelyn swallowed, nerves in her belly, “Are we still…?”

Lana sighed, “I suppose it was too much to hope that you would have received those letters…”

“What?”

She shook her head, “Nevermind, you’ll have the chance to read them later. But, yes. We are still.”

Raelyn breathed out in relief, holding her as tight as she could manage - which at this point was probably not all that tightly, as she could feel the last of the effects of Lana’s Force fading. Lana returned the squeeze, though, seemingly just as relieved.

The nausea began to clear as the shuttle descended into the swamps, no longer needing to lose the skytrooper trails put on them or wind around the crowded buildings. They seemed to be taking a circuitous route as the shuttle made wide bends around certain patches of the swamp’s forest, but Raj and Koth had gotten back to joking with each other quietly and they weren’t flying quite so quickly anymore.

“Hello, this is your Captain speaking,” Koth announced ceremoniously, “We will be landing in T-minus ten standard minutes, so if all the passengers could be seated and strapped in, that would be greatly appreciated.”

The two woman parted hesitantly, but Lana stood again and offered her hands to haul Raelyn off the floor. She pushed herself up with Lana’s help, and immediately embraced her again while her feet were still beneath her.

“I love you, Lana.”

She smiled softly and pressed a kiss to Raelyn’s hair, “I love you, too, darling.”


	2. The Gravestone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning for depiction of syringes/needles. Not extensive, but it's there.

“Rimea, we’re at the Gravestone, where are you?” Lana asked, her voice not betraying any of the emotions she must have been feeling. Maybe it was just covered by the static in her earpiece.

“I’m dealing with a bit of a situation,” she replied cautiously, “I’ll meet you there soon. If there’s trouble, don’t wait for me. I’ll meet you back at the base.”

“Understood.”

Lana’s receiver clicked off and Rimea straightened her uniform again, pulling at the cuffs and adjusting the neckline so it was even. She was far too close to the Overwatch headquarters to feel comfortable in her own skin, absolutely positive that someone would see through her disguise and give her even more trouble than she was already in.

Someone moved between the shadows in front of her, skin a sickly shade of gray, a rifle strapped to their back. Ah, there she was.

A local terrorist had recently taken to bombing various locations around the Zakuulan capital, usually causing enough damage that people would notice, they would feel a bit of fear, the youth would get riled up about anarchy. It had all been sanctioned by Overwatch security, that much was a well-known secret. But in the past few days, said terrorist had evidently outgrown the tether allowed them by Overwatch, and had begun to systematically destroy the Overwatch backup generators and break into their firewall. To Zakuulans, the local terrorist was known as Firebrand. To Rimea, she was Kaliyo Djannis - former Imperial Intelligence agent, anarchist, known backstabber and seller of eyeballs. And dammit, Kaliyo was going to get a lot of people actually killed this time. The targets Overwatch had allowed her before were mostly for show - big explosions, lots of destruction, but purposefully areas without a lot of residents. Evidently Kaliyo was tired of playing pretend and wanted to hurt Zakuul for real.

And there she was, creeping around the Overwatch headquarters like an eel in a murky pond.

Rimea switched on her stealth generator and followed her around the outskirts of the building, careful not to lose sight of her. Kaliyo set down five or six charges as she went - presumably as a diversion to get her in the building. Rimea carefully disarmed all of them, by this point well-acquainted with the Rattataki’s favored demolition methods. Kaliyo made it halfway around the building before she stopped suddenly and retreated back half a block or so. Rimea followed.

Only to step right into an electro-net, which immediately trapped her and forced off her stealth generator. She fell to the ground with a huff and felt a shock from where she rubbed against the net - oh, damn it all.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” Kaliyo taunted, stepping from the shadows and circling her captured prey slowly, tapping at the net with her boots as she went just to shock Rimea, “A little Overwatch guard whose feet got too big for his boots.”

If Rimea could have rolled her eyes into the back of her head she would have, “Kaliyo, do you really think Overwatch guards have stealth generators?”

Her eyes narrowed as she stared at her prisoner, “You must be mistaken. I am Firebrand, not whoever this Kaliyo person you imagined.”

“Drop the act, Kaliyo Djannis,” Rimea repeated, “I’ve known you far too long for that.”

She aimed her rifle directly between Rimea’s eyes, “Who the hell are you? I’ll advise you to answer carefully, my trigger finger has been jumpy lately.”

Oh, stars above, why did she have to be all noble and protect the people who enslaved the galaxy?

“Take off my damn helmet and find out for yourself,” she replied.

“Wrong answer,” the Rattataki said flatly, but just as she let off a round directly at Rimea, she’d cut through the net with a knife and flung the whole thing at her former shipmate (she hesitated to even call Kaliyo an ally, and they certainly had never been friends). She spun and pushed herself to a crouch as Kaliyo flung the net to the side and aimed the rifle again, but Rimea was faster and swept her legs out from under her. Kaliyo’s rifle fell to the ground and Rimea kicked it out of her reach, aiming her pistol at her opponent.

“Perhaps you’d like to reconsider,” she said coolly. Stars, she felt like a totally different person with Kaliyo this close to her again - someone angry and violent. Like she’d like nothing better than to kick her teeth in. The thought scared her so much she lowered the pistol and took a step back.

Kaliyo raised an eyebrow suspiciously, “Only ever knew one person to back off an enemy that’s dead to rights. Super Secret Agent Cipher Nine, Rimea Politryk.”

Rimea nodded hurriedly, and pulled off the helmet, tossing it on the ground next to Kaliyo’s rifle, “Maybe now we can talk?”

“You’re gonna have to be quick,” Kaliyo drawled, pushing herself to her feet and collecting her weapon off the ground, “I’ve got a date.”

“I wouldn’t call your detonation of Overwatch Headquarters a ‘date’.”

Kaliyo tsked at her, “Still sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong, I see. Is that really what you wanted to talk about, Mea? Cause I’ve had a lot more interesting conversations with the Gamorrean bouncers on Hutta.”

Rimea held back a shudder, “ _Yes_. And we’re going to talk about it, Kaliyo. I won’t let you kill innocent people like this.”

“Uhh, maybe you haven’t heard,” she explained, stretching her neck as she spoke, “but these people are hardly innocent. And I’m an anarchist. It’s what I do. I’ve even got full permission this time.”

“Maybe you did before, but you certainly don’t now.”

Kaliyo pouted and crossed her arms over her chest, turning her head away from Rimea like a child whose parents wouldn’t let them get an extra piece of candy at the store.

Rimea sighed, “Why are you doing this, Kaliyo? You aren’t leading a revolution here. Zakuul just rebuilds whatever you destroy - even the people have their scars removed like it never happened. You haven’t even made a dent in Arcann’s armor.”

“I can dream, can’t I?”

“Sure, but you’re not dreaming. You’re not stupid enough to think you’re actually going to start a rebellion with a stunt like this. You’re going to make people hate Firebrand, not Arcann.”

Kaliyo eyed her, “I really hate you.”

“The feeling is mutual,” Rimea replied tiredly, “But my question still stands. Why, Kaliyo?”

At first she looked like she might hide in the shadows again, escape Rimea’s questioning and just come back later to finish the job she started. She paced for a minute in what actually looked like deep thought, trying to come up with an answer.

“Zakuul took everything from me,” the Rattataki finally explained, “they took my life, wouldn’t let me do what I like, tried to cage me like some animal. I’m going to show them that Kaliyo Djannis is a free woman and they can’t cage me anymore.”

Rimea sighed again, “That’s what this is all about? You wanted to blow something up and they said ‘no’?”

“It’s not like that,” Kaliyo protested, “they promised I would be revered, loved, feared. But then they refused to let me do the things that would allow that to happen. I’m just an oddity, something tweens idolize for a few months before they go back to their luxurious living. Meanwhile, I’m still stuck in the filth.”

Rimea took a deep breath, doing her damnedest to approach this calmly and rationally, no matter how irrational Kaliyo was, “This isn’t the way to make your statement.”

“Did you not hear the part about how they took everything from me!? I’m simply returning the favor!”

“Do you _really_ think you’re the _only_ person in this galaxy who’s lost everything and everyone to Zakuul? Are you really that dense!?” The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them, and it took every ounce of discipline to keep herself from crying, from thinking of the family and life she’d left behind because of Zakuul.

Kaliyo just looked at her dumbfounded, “If you’ve lost so much, why won’t you just help me take it back?”

Rimea shook her head, “You won’t get your life back by destroying others’, Kaliyo. I thought you’d know that by now.”

The Rattataki winced and bit back whatever retort she’d had on the tip of her tongue. That was a start.

“Zakuulans themselves have been hurt and stripped by their Emperor just as much as you have,” she continued quietly, “If you choose to kill them now, you’ll only be adding to their suffering.”

“I’m no fucking philanthropist, Mea,” she replied, crossing her arms again.

Rimea nodded, “But you aren’t quite as heartless as you lead on, either.”

Kaliyo pouted and blew an exhale out of her mouth, “Fine. Nobody dies. But I’m only doing it for you, alright? You saved my ass more than once when we were with Intelligence together. I’m just repaying the favor. Consider us even.”

“Thank you.”

She threw the detonator at Rimea, “Here, take this. Figure you probably already disarmed these puppies, yeah?”

She grinned a little.

“Oh, don’t give me that smirk,” Kaliyo whined, already making her way into the shadows again, “You’re not nearly as sneaky as you think you are.”

Rimea waited to lose sight of her completely, then let out the breath she’d been holding and checked her chronometer. It would be close to their planned escape time, but she could still make it to the Gravestone.

But she’d stopped a mindless terrorist attack, even if she didn’t make the rendezvous time. That meant something, didn’t it?

\---

The Gravestone was even more beautiful than he remembered. The women who had been sent to work on it had pulled it out of the muck and patched it up so nicely it hardly looked like the same ship he’d found nearly two years ago. It was practically radiant, even in the shadowy swampland and it absolutely took his breath away. Raj had to remind him more than once to help with the landing sequence so their shuttle actually landed in the bay and didn’t just crash right into it. Wouldn’t that have been devastating.

The two of them guided their shuttle into the belly of the ship, and Koth had to keep himself from gasping as the bright white lights lit up the landing bay and illuminated the pristine room. The Mirialan and her wife entered from the side door and waved casually, as if it wasn’t a big deal that they had been working on and living in the Gravestone. Koth felt a shiver down his back as he thought it.

Raj nudged him with a grin when they landed. Koth hadn’t moved at all in the last fifteen seconds, his eyes wide as he took in what he could see. He hardly even registered the footsteps of Lana and the Mirialan pulling a now unconscious Outlander out of the shuttle. It didn’t matter, though. The Outlander was powerful, sure, and she certainly made Lana happier than he’d ever seen her, but it was going to be the Gravestone that won this war against Arcann. Not him, not her, and not some Alliance.

“Hey, babe, you gonna join us?” Raj asked from the doorway, “Ghea says she needs your magic touch on a couple things before we can go.”

Koth whipped his head around and blushed as Raj leaned against the frame casually with his arm above his head, apparently having removed his armor since his shirt rode up a little and exposed an inch or so of his stomach. It was all a little too much for him, and he hid his face in his hands as he cried.

“Whoa, whoa,” Raj said, appearing in front of him in a blink and holding his face in his hands, “You okay? What’s going on?”

His genuine worry only made Koth cry harder.

“Alright, alright, take it easy,” he soothed, moving his hands to embrace him, rubbing up and down his back slowly. After a minute or two, Koth unfurled a little, pulling his hands off his face and resting them on Raj’s chest.

“That’s my boy,” he praised softly, kissing the side of Koth’s head, “Do you want to talk about it? Or do you want to just keep sitting here for awhile?”

He pushed out of Raj’s embrace, but took his hands in his lap, “I just… I never thought… When I was a kid, I used to dream of being a Knight, of being worthy of their power. Clearly, I was never deemed devoted enough…”

Koth looked up briefly and met Raj’s rich green eyes, but the other man didn’t interrupt.

“But to be here now, _Captain of the Gravestone_ … to sit in her shuttle bay… it’s more than I ever asked for… I’d lost hope I’d ever be worthy of anything, you know? But now… it’s all just a little overwhelming.”

Raj cupped his cheek with one hand and leaned forward to kiss him, rubbing his thumb over his cheek as he did so. Stubble rubbed against stubble as they pressed together, and Koth couldn’t help but lean into the kiss a little more. It was long and slow and gentle, and if there had ever been any doubt about Raj’s feelings it would have disappeared in that moment.

“You are worthy of far more than you think you are, Koth,” he whispered reverently when they finally parted long enough to get a word in.

Koth felt more tears threatening in the corners of his eyes, and he closed them as Raj brushed his thumb against them, “That’s… thank you.”

Raj kissed him again and winked, “That’s what I’m here for. It’s in the boyfriend contract, didn’t you get a copy of that?”

He chuckled quietly and squeezed his hands, leaning his head into Raj’s chest again.

Part of him wanted to stay here like this forever, but a pair of boots climbing the ramp and an all-too-familiar unwavering alto voice shattered that dream in an instant, “I presume you two are the pilots of this vessel? Miss Drayen sent me to tell you she was looking for you in the engine room.”

Koth whipped around so fast his forehead almost crashed into Raj’s chin, and they parted in an awkward jerk as he glared at their unexpected guest.

“What the hell is Senya Tirall doing here?” he demanded, in her direction but not to anybody in particular.

She nodded solemnly, “Hello, Captain Vortena. I am here to help the Alliance.”

He went to stand up, to give her a piece of his mind, to tell her hello in a way that truly captured how he felt, but Raj squeezed his hands and kept him where he was.

Koth looked to him, still outraged, “Did you invite her here?”

Senya stepped forward and he bristled as she reached a hand out to him, “The Drayens and Master Aelac’camo invited me, Captain. There is no need to accuse the man you love of betraying you.”

“What would you know about love?”

“ _Koth_ , please,” Raj implored quietly.

“Do you know what she did to me? How long she hunted me?”

Raj nodded, “I know, love. But I don’t think she’s hunting you anymore.”

Koth frowned, eyes flickering between the Knight-hunter and the Smuggler, exasperated, “You don’t know what she’s capable of.”

Senya sighed, “I’m not here to bring you to justice, Captain.”

“Justice!? Ha! You think you’re fighting for _justice_? You’re nothing more than a lackey to that imperial usurper!”

“I’ve left the Knights behind and I’ve joined your fight,” she replied tiredly, her brows furrowing and eyes clouding over for only a moment before she focused on Koth again.

He eyed her suspiciously, “Well, we’ll see about that. I don’t trust you.”

“Then the feeling is mutual,” she replied with thinly veiled bitterness, “You are still needed in the engine room, however.”

He huffed and stood abruptly, dragging Raj along behind him, “Fine. But I’m not doing this because you asked.”

“I’m not sure what difference that would make-”

“It makes a big difference, alright?”

She put her hands out in a sign of surrender, “Alright.”

Koth pushed past her with his head held high, hands still pulling Raj along behind him. As soon as they were in an empty hallway and out of Senya’s eyesight, though, Raj stopped and tugged him backwards.

The look in his eyes was heartbreaking as he asked, “Are you alright? What was that about?”

“What do you mean?” he replied with a half-hearted shrug, “You know what she did to me. She was ruthless. Everyone on my crew bled more than once on account of her. And now… now she thinks that just because we have a common enemy, I’ll trust her not to stab me in the back? I’ve already lost too much to her and the other Knights. I won’t… I won’t lose you, too...”

Raj hugged him again, squeezing him a little too tightly, “I’m not going anywhere. You won’t lose me, Koth. I promise.”

He exhaled and held back another sob.

“You’re on the same side now, can you please just try to get along? At least until we get to Odessen?” Raj begged softly, his voice breaking just a little.

He wished it were so simple, wished it was so easy to forgive her for all that had transpired between them. But the thought of letting her within striking distance when he’d outrun her for so long terrified him.

“I don’t know,” he replied honestly, “But I’ll do what I can.”

Raj relaxed marginally, but kept his iron-gripped embrace as he buried his head in Koth’s shoulder, “That’s all I can ask.”

He nudged the other man’s head with his own and held him just as tightly.

He still had Raj. He still had the Gravestone. Neither Senya nor Zakuul had taken them from him yet. That meant something, didn’t it?

\---

Raelyn Politryk was gaunter than she remembered. Admittedly, no one had seen her in five years and it wasn’t like Aelacc had been close to her at all, but she remembered meeting Raelyn on Yavin IV very clearly. It was the first and only time she’d actually met the most recent incarnation of the Emperor’s Wrath. Aelacc mostly remembered the haughtiness in her voice, the passion and emotion she exuded as she paced along the front of the conference table. But she also distinctly remembered the deep and vibrant brown of her skin, the piercing green of her eyes, her angular nose and jaw, and the electrical-burn scar that covered nearly half of her face. The woman lying in front of her now looked ashen, her skin dull and lifeless, and if her chest hadn’t been rising and falling shallowly, she might not have been sure she was alive at all.

Lana, on the other hand, was practically ablaze with fury and impatience, her normally even demeanor bursting at the seams. But she said nothing, keeping her eyes on her work as she prepared the next doses of the carbonite poisoning antidote from Maraalor’s instructions.

Aelacc stood on the other side of the small medbay, reading more of Maraalor’s notes while she waited for the readouts of Raelyn’s vitals. The man was nothing if not thorough, having sent not only normal ranges of the results for all the tests they would go through, but also possible reasons for results outside of those ranges and ways to proceed to stabilize her until they got back to his hospital on Odessen. Well, _he_ called it ‘his’. Aelacc wasn’t really sure anyone else believed his ownership of it.

“Hello, darlings!” chimed the voice of Holiday, her pink form manifesting in the holocenter in the far side of the room closer to Lana, “I just got a message from Master Telosi, asking for a status update on our - well, _your_ \- patient.”

“Inform Maraalor that we are not his interns,” Lana snarled without looking up from her datapad, “we are perfectly capable of reading and following his instructions without his interference.”

Holiday backed up a step and looked to Aelacc.

She nodded, “Everything seems to be going as expected so far, Holiday. You can let Maraalor know we’ll call you if we need him.”

Immediately the sunshiney grin leapt back onto her face as she bowed, “Splendid! I will go tell him that right now!”

“Thank you,” Aelacc replied, watching her disappear from view.

The monitor in front of her beeped, and in the time it took for the results to be displayed, Lana was at her side with a syringe in her hand. Aelacc took a half a step to the side, keeping her eyes on the monitor and Maraalor’s notes.

“Pulse is low, blood pressure is low, oxygen is low, white blood cell count is high,” she noted quietly, “all to be expected from that ordeal.”

Lana shifted her weight to her right side, positioning herself slightly away from Aelacc, and closer to Raelyn, “Shall we administer the antidote, then?”

The Twi’lek skimmed through the notes one last time, nodding slowly, “Uhm, yes. Go ahead when you’re ready.”

The Sith didn’t hesitate, moving smoothly and quickly forward and injecting the content of the syringe into the woman on the table. Aelacc pretended to be particularly interested in Maraalor’s notes.

“Lana! Aelacc!” another voice rang from the hallway, “We’ve got skytroopers outside!”

Rimea came sprinting into the room with her bag thrown over her shoulder and her pistol in her hand - Aelacc couldn’t ever remember seeing Rimea actually wielding her weapon before, and her own hands instinctively went to her lightsaber.

“How did this happen? Were you followed?” Lana asked, also reaching for her weapon.

Rimea shook her head, “No, I ran right into a dozen of them just outside. But there are definitely more on the way. Senya needs you out there.”

The Sith looked to Raelyn, who lay still on the cot, but Rimea grabbed her arm and looked her in the eyes, her voice surprisingly unwavering, “I’ll take care of Raelyn, Lana. You two have to go out there while Noghea and Risha and Koth get this ship in the air.”

Something clicked in Lana, and she set her jaw and squared her shoulders, nodding sharply before ducking out into the hallway. Aelacc followed her closely, but as they lost sight of the medbay, she turned to look back at Rimea, who had already sunk to the floor with her hands on her face. For a moment, Aelacc thought about turning around, but the sounds of blaster fire outside hitting the hull of their ship quickly changed her mind and she hurried after the Sith.

Outside the Gravestone, Senya was in the thick of about two dozen skytroopers, and Raj was ducking for cover on the near side of a boulder. A shuttle rumbled in the distance.

“Nice to see you!” Raj noted cheerfully as the two women joined in the fight, “Think you guys can handle this? Koth needs me up top.”

Aelacc nodded, “Go.”

He jumped up from his position and immediately dashed behind them into the Gravestone, leaving the three Force users alone against a wall of skytroopers. Aelacc hoped it was just skytroopers.

Lana immediately lunged forward to aid Senya, swiftly and gracefully cutting down the droids that posed the greatest immediate threat to the Zakuulan. The two of them fought back-to-back, alternating between using the Force to fling skytroopers out of blaster range and using their sabers to cut down the ones closest, all while shielding the other from shrapnel and debris. It might have been beautiful if Aelacc’s heart wasn’t threatening to pound right out of her chest. They were constantly talking to each other, giving direction and shouting warnings about impending attacks, communicating as if they’d trained together for years. She briefly recalled her own fight with Senya at her back, remembering how easily she, too, moved in tandem with the former Knight. They quickly dispatched that wave of skytroopers, smashing the final droid into a tree.

Another group of skytroopers landed far closer to the Gravestone, and Aelacc made her way to them - clearly, the other two women could handle themselves perfectly fine without her. She threw her deep indigo lightsaber at the central group of them as they fired at the engines, directing their attention away from the ship. Her weapon came back to her hand easily and she inhaled deeply before she jumped in the middle of them, deftly blocking and redirecting their attacks back into them. She spun and whirled and slammed walls of the Force into the ground to destabilize them so she could more easily outmaneuver them. She felt the sweat trickling down her face as she pushed through the swamp’s oppressive humidity, wiping her brow with the back of her hand as the remaining skytroopers readied another attack.

She raised her lightsaber for another round, when a pair of gunshots rang out from the engine of the ship, tearing the head straight off one of the droids. Aelacc wrapped herself in a Force shield as it exploded and destroyed its remaining comrades; she looked up to the engine to see the cheeky grin of the Mirialan mechanic, who gave her a thumbs up and a wink before clambering back inside. A thought that had crossed Aelacc’s mind many times in her time on the Gravestone came around again: Noghea was absolutely insane. Brilliant and lovely, to be sure, but she had absolutely no sense of self-preservation.

“Knights incoming!” Lana called from behind her.

She whipped her head around as a shuttle descended into the muck and a half dozen golden-clad Zakuulan soldiers emptied out in front of them. A turret fired from the Gravestone and another shuttle a hundred meters out took a fiery nosedive into the swamp. A shudder went down the Jedi’s back even as she wiped sweat from her brow again.

“Aelacc! We need you!”

She hurried to their position in front of the Gravestone’s entranceway, lightsaber ignited. Senya looked at her and nodded solemnly as the three of them caught their breath.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this, Senya?” Aelacc asked, “Fighting your own?”

She looked her in the eyes seriously, “I have nothing personally against them. But if they’re going to stand in my way…”

The Twi’lek swallowed as the rest of her sentence went unsaid. In the last week since Senya had been aboard the ship, she’d been gentle and kind. Not at all like the ruthless hunter she was now - or the calculating duelist Aelacc had first met. She was very fond of off-duty Senya. But she wasn’t sure how much she liked the Knight-hunter Senya.

The Zakuulan Knights gathered in front of them in a line, saber pikes out and ready to fight. One of the men in the center looked like he was going to issue some sort of challenge, but Lana immediately leapt forward and crashed her lightsaber into his. Senya and Aelacc followed her lead, each of them taking on two Knights. Even through the helmets they wore, Aelacc could tell that they’d recognized the three of them - Senya of course, was well known to all the Knights. Lana had just spent the last six hours stealing the Outlander from the Spire and was probably already on whatever most wanted list they had. And it took them a few seconds longer to recognize Aelacc as the Jedi Battlemaster, but their stances widened as soon as the revelation hit them.

She hated this part.

For the next several minutes she was a blur of blue and black, constantly pirouetting and counter attacking to keep herself from getting hurt. They had evidently been expecting her tactics and took to feinting and counter attacking themselves, more than once coming within inches of her skin. But she was faster than them, her armor more flexible than their metal pauldrons and breastplates.

She hit one with the hilt of her blade, sending him off his feet with a hard uppercut to his chin. The other was more difficult to catch, but as she ducked to avoid his monstrous swing, she swept his feet out from under him. He lost his saber pike in the process and as she stood over him he radiated fear and helplessness.

She _especially_ hated this part.

The battlefield, she learned, was not the place for mercy. Not like this. Not when she was outnumbered and he was hardly injured.

But he was without a weapon. Defenseless. Silently pleading for his life even though he’d never say it aloud.

_I can’t._

_You must._

She stared at him, frozen to the ground she stood on.

But a red-orange lightsaber cut both men in half, and Aelacc watched it return to Lana’s hand. The Sith had made the choice for her.

The Sith who was still facing down an opponent of her own as another shuttle came screaming down, another group of skytroopers descending upon them.

Aelacc put her hand to her ear, “Ghea? How much more time do you need?”

“Prob’ly a minute, maybe less!”

She sighed and put her hand back to her weapon. Senya fought beside her against one Knight, focused and determined. Had it under control. Lana was further off, on the defensive as she lost precious seconds to assuage Aelacc’s guilt.

If she hadn’t been so tired and hot, she would have used the Force to make the bound directly to her to help. But she couldn’t muster the strength to use that much power. She ran to her instead, watching as the Knight kicked Lana backwards. Watching as she threw out her arms to balance herself. Watching as the Knight found his opening.

Aelacc threw her lightsaber at him with all the force she could, but not before he caught Lana’s arm and shoulder with his own saber. The Sith fell to the ground just as the Jedi’s lightsaber cut through the Knight. Lana rolled out of the way as his body went crashing to the ground.

The Gravestone’s engines came to life behind them, and the ship pushed off the ground.

“Everybody on! We’re as ready as we’ll ever be!” Noghea called through the commlink.

The Twi’lek took the Sith by her uninjured arm and hauled her off the ground. Lana immediately took her own weight, calling Senya to them to board the Gravestone. The three of them used whatever strength they had left to jump on, all three of them landing flat on the floor and breathing heavily.

“We all on?” Raj called through the intercomm.

“We’re on,” Lana replied between breaths, grimacing as she moved her injured shoulder.

Senya sat up and closed the hatch, barring entrance for the dozens of skytroopers now trying to pursue them.

“That went well, all things considered,” she noted dryly.

Aelacc huffed out a half-hearted chuckle and pushed herself to her feet. They were alive, at least. That meant something, didn’t it?

\---

Rimea rubbed her face with her hands as she stood next to Raelyn’s bed, hoping Aelacc and Lana hadn’t seen her collapse moments after they left. She’d been running on fumes for days now, and the second she had a quiet moment she fell apart. It wasn’t even a quiet moment for anyone other than her, since they were all either hurriedly finishing the fixes to the Gravestone or outside fighting skytroopers. Or laying on the bed next to her, trying not to die.

Gods, it had been so long since she’d seen Raelyn. She hardly looked herself in that moment, true, but she was definitely still the sister Rimea remembered.

“How’s it going down there, Mea?” Raj’s voice filtered through her ear piece.

She took a deep breath and replied, “It’s alright. Raelyn is stable for now, the antidote seems to be working.”

“Think you can leave her for a few minutes? We need someone to man the Omnicannon.”

She pulled up the Gravestone’s schematics on her datapad, locating the weapons deck and making a mental path to get there, “I can do that.”

“Oh, great! You’re the best, sis! Remind me to give you a proper hug when we get out of this!”

She smiled a little, “I’ll do that.”

He clicked off his end of the receiver, and Rimea took a deep breath, putting her hand on Raelyn’s shoulder tentatively.

“Sorry, Rae, looks like the reunion will have to wait,” she said softly, her voice nearly a whisper.

She pulled herself together and navigated her way through the passages of the Gravestone, running into a few lost and wandering refugees whom she directed back to the others. Once they were in space, they were of course free to roam the ship as they pleased, but for now while Noghea and Risha were desperately trying to get the thing up and running, they’d been asked to stay put in one of the cargo bays.

The elevator down was a mercifully short ride, and after a nervous moment clenching at the railings, the door opened to reveal a single hallway that led to an almost entirely empty room. There was a console, a seat, and a wide window that had a view of the Zakuulan swamps as they rose out of the forest.

Someone else was firing the turrets on shuttles of skytroopers and Knights, but those hardly seemed like they needed whatever an “Omnicannon” was.

She sat tentatively in the chair and brought it forward so her hands rested on the console. It immediately lit up as she read all the keys and got a feeling for the steering handles and trigger. There was only one of them, so whatever it was was probably powerful or warranted a long recharge time. Probably both.

Rimea took a look at the dashboard again, pressed the button that would charge it up.

_Here’s to hoping we don’t all blow up._

Something above her started to hum, and the Gravestone was still in one piece, so she took that as a good sign.

“Uhh, Rimea,” Raj called again, “You’re down at the Omnicannon, right?”

“Yeah-”

She saw it as soon as he finished asking the question. The Eternal Fleet - or a good portion of it at least - faced them as they exited the atmosphere. They weren’t shooting yet, but they were just a sitting duck, waiting for the shot.

“ _Shit_ ,” Raj muttered, “No way we’re getting around that. Is the hyperdrive ready yet? No? Damnit… No, no, Noghea, you’re fine. This isn’t on you. Mea, you still there?”

“I’m here.”

“Don’t suppose you want to test out this Omnicannon and see what it actually does?”

The charging readout pinged as it reached one hundred percent.

She heard Koth muffled in the background, “Sounds better than dying!”

“We don’t seem to have much of a choice,” she sighed, aiming for the flagship in the front and center of the formation. She opened up the flaps on the cannon, put up the shield, and pulled the trigger.

Within seconds, a huge green laser appeared from above her and went straight for the flagship. As soon as it connected, the ship practically disintegrated and Rimea felt her heart sink as she watched. But it wasn’t just the flagship that exploded. Lines of green spread out to each Eternal Fleet ship directly beside the flagship, each of them exploding like the first.

“Wahhhhooooo!” Koth’s voice came through Raj’s comm again, “I can’t keep track of them all!”

“That’s amazing! Did you know it could do that!?” Raj this time, just as elated.

Rimea clicked off her ear piece and watched as half the Eternal Fleet ships disappeared before her eyes. There were thousands of Zakuulans working on those ships - they weren’t just skytroopers and GEMINI droids. Actual people were there, too. People she’d probably run into at the market or one of her reconnaissance runs. People whose families thought they’d be safe on board the galaxy’s greatest armada. People who were so thankful they’d been chosen to serve.

The Gravestone itself seemed to take pity on her and in the next second, the sky stretched before them and they entered hyperspace.

They were safe. That meant something, didn’t it?


	3. From the Grave

The first thing she realized was that everything ached. Everything. From her temples to her ankles. Even the thought of moving made her vaguely nauseated. But her headache wasn’t quite so splitting and her lungs didn’t mutiny at every intake of air, so that was something.

The second thing she realized was that she wasn’t alone. There was an achingly familiar and warm presence in the room with her. She opened her eyes slowly, trying not to wince as the artificial light bombarded her senses. She turned her head only enough to see the back of the woman on the other side of the room. She was wearing dark grey armor - well, at least from the hips down. Her torso was bare except for a black sports bra and a bandage she was wrapping around her left arm, which of course left her back almost completely bare.

Lana stretched her injured arm, back still to Raelyn, and as sparks formed on her fingers she muttered to herself, “ _Damn_.”

Raelyn just wanted to take her in. She was just as she remembered; sure, her hair was a little longer, a little straighter, had a few streaks of gray in it now, and her armor was no longer the green and black set she last remembered seeing. But she was still Lana. She still had those beautiful rippling muscles on her back and arms (and no doubt, her front and legs, too. Raelyn was going to have to double check that sometime soon). She still demanded control both of the Force and her emotions. She was as pragmatic as ever, more upset by the weakness in her injury than any pain it caused her.

Lana stretched her arm over her head and Raelyn couldn’t help the quiet whine that escaped her.

Immediately, Lana spun around to the sound, recognizing the voice at once.

Mmm yup, her front side was just as toned as the back.

Raelyn grinned and tried to push herself up to an elbow, only to fail and pretend like nothing happened, “What happened to your arm?”

Lana laughed, and it felt like the whole room got a little warmer, “Just ten minutes ago you were unconscious and mostly dead, and now you’re worried about a burn on my arm?”

She reached out her arms, and Lana closed the distance between the two of them, sitting on the edge of the bed and taking Raelyn’s hands in hers. They had rougher calluses on them than she remembered, a few more scars around previously broken fingers. Damn, five years was a long time. It was a miracle both of them even survived.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Raelyn prodded, squeezing her hands.

“As persistent as ever,” Lana sighed, but there was a smile creeping on her face, “It was a miscalculation, that’s all.”

“Mhmmm, do I need to kill someone for hurting you?” She took her left hand out of Lana’s and ran it over the bandages.

Lana just shook her head, reaching for Raelyn’s hand with her own and bringing them down to her lap, “It’s only a lightsaber burn, Raelyn. And you’re hardly in a position to avenge me at the moment.”

Raelyn frowned, “Says who?”

“Raelyn, you are still bedridden! You can’t even reach your lightsabers, nonetheless use them!”

“Hmm, maybe that’s just what I want you to think,” she replied with a wink, “Maybe I could get up at any time, I just don’t want to.”

Lana exhaled loudly, “You are ridiculous, you know that?”

Raelyn smiled and tugged on her hands - even sitting in her bed, she wasn’t nearly close enough, “Maybe, but I’m _your_ ridiculous.”

“That you are,” Lana took the hint and brushed the hair off Raelyn’s face, cupping the scarred side of her face as she bent down and kissed her. Oh her lips were soft and warm and tasted like salt and like _her_. She put her hands on Lana’s waist, delighting in the little jump from her as cold hands met warm skin. Oh she missed this. Missed kissing her. Missed being this close to her. Missed touching her. Missed _her_. Lana was here, now, touching and kissing her and she was _real_ and she was _alive_. How many times had Valkorion shown her images of Lana, forced her to replay memories of their meeting and their relationship? How many times had he mocked her or warped the visions to tear her apart and make her doubt? Too many. He wasn’t going to ruin this, _he wasn’t_.

She kissed her again. And again. And again. Desperately, almost wildly she kissed her. But Lana, as always, kept her grounded, and when Raelyn’s head was spinning, she brought her back, rubbed her thumb on her cheek and slid her hand down to her neck, eliciting a quiet and breathless moan. Raelyn rolled her hips up to Lana’s thighs, but she just smiled through the kisses and gently took her hand to press her back down.

“Not yet, my love,” she breathed, “Wait until you’re healed. Or at least until we have some privacy.”

Raelyn frowned and whined a little, but Lana just shook her head and rubbed her thumb against the furrows in her brow.

_Tsk tsk not even your own partner will pleasure you. You surely could have done better, Wrath._

She cringed noticeably, and Lana sat back up, “Raelyn?”

She shook her head, “Not you.”

Lana nodded seriously, taking Raelyn’s hands in hers again, “It’s Valkorion, isn’t it? He is still… with you somehow.”

Raelyn just nodded. Lana squeezed her hands and a heavy silence fell over the two of them.

“He’s been with you for all this time, hasn’t he?” she asked quietly.

Raelyn nodded, “It’s been a hell of a time.”

Lana smiled a little, rubbing her thumbs over Raelyn’s, “I can’t imagine that has been pleasant for either of you.”

“I try to make it at least as terrible for him as it is for me.”

_So immature._

“What is it like to have him in there?” Lana asked slowly, unsure how to approach the subject, “Is he controlling your thoughts?”

Raelyn shook her head, “My thoughts and actions are my own. He simply provides unwanted and unnecessary commentary.”

Lana nodded, noticeably relieved. But Raelyn knew it wasn’t enough.

“I am still… _afraid_ , Lana,” she admitted quietly, so quietly it almost didn’t come out at all, “He’s far more powerful than he’s leading on. I get the feeling he’s lying in wait, simply biding his time until he can truly spring his plans into action. And when that day comes…”

She ran her hand from Raelyn’s temple to her chin, brushing her hair off of her face, “Shh, shh, we won’t let it come to that.”

“I would rather die than let him hurt you, Lana.” She sniffed, trying to blink away the tears in her eyes.

_Oh, please, stop being so dramatic. I’m here to help you, Wrath, there’s no need for this wailing and gnashing of teeth._

Lana put her hand to Raelyn’s face again, leaning down to touch their foreheads together, “And _I_ would rather be hurt than lose you again, Raelyn.”

She cried in earnest then, taking her remaining hand out of Lana’s and throwing both of her arms around her lover’s neck, burying her face in her shoulder. Lana wrapped her arms around her and held her closely, not saying anything. After a few moments, she took one hand and started running her fingers through Raelyn’s black hair, a movement that brought back memories of hot summer nights in the jungle of Yavin IV and cold rainy days in their shared apartment on Dromund Kaas. When they simply sat together and listened to the wildlife and the drops against the windows. She longed for the days when their biggest concerns were tracking down a madman or playing Sith politics. They were hardly simple concerns, but seemed far more manageable than having a man infesting her head.

_Your goals then were pitiful and narrow. You were meant for far more than the banality of the Sith, Wrath. I am simply here to help you achieve that goal. There’s no need to be so bitter about our arrangement - I have been very generous in the amount of leeway I have given you thus far._

Valkorion’s words snapped her out of her daydreams and she clung to Lana tightly.

“I won’t let him hurt you,” she choked out, “I killed the False Revan twice, watched Ziost die so he wouldn’t hurt you. But it’s different now. I don’t know how to fight him now. I didn’t even know how to fight him then, and look where we ended up.”

“It won’t come to that,” Lana replied, “I will make sure of it. _We_ will make sure of it. You aren’t fighting him alone anymore, Raelyn.”

Curiosity overpowered her fear and she pulled back enough to meet Lana’s eyes. She’d mentioned a “we” twice now, and for a woman so precise in her words, it couldn’t be a slip of the tongue. Lana let her rest back on the bed, taking Raelyn’s hands again.

She answered her unspoken question, “Do you remember the alliance you were beginning to create? Before you met Marr out in Wild Space?”

Raelyn nodded shallowly. Force, that was a lifetime ago.

“It’s real now,” Lana explained, “Kalina and I built it together. A truly inter-faction alliance. Much larger than the coalition we formed with Maraalor and Theron. There are hundreds of people who are helping us defeat the Eternal Empire and Valkorion. You aren’t alone anymore, my love.”

She scrunched her nose, “You and Lina? But I thought the whole galaxy thought I was dead.”

Lana nodded, “Much of it still does. But Master Lornacch did not get her title by accident - both she and I knew immediately that you were still alive. Even if they were skeptical that we could save you, there are many people on all sides who believe that the Eternal Empire must be overthrown for the good of the galaxy.”

She closed her eyes and squeezed her hands, “That’s… I don’t know what to say.”

_Interesting… We could use this Alliance to our advantage, Wrath._

_Awfully bold of you to assume there’s ever been a ‘we’, Valkorion._

_Why of course, we inhabit the same body, there’s always been a ‘we’._

_Wrong. I inhabit this body, not you. I am in charge and the day I finally end you cannot come fast enough!_

_Hmm, so predictable…_

“Raelyn? Are you alright? Do you need more pain medication?”

She opened her eyes again and shook her head, “No, no I’m alright. Just… _him_. He won’t shut up, and I can only ignore him for so long before I go insane.”

Lana frowned, searching Raelyn’s eyes for something she couldn’t find.

“Really, I’m fine, Lana,” she insisted, grinning a little, “Or, as fine as one can be considering I’ve been stabbed, frozen in carbonite for five years, and am living with a tyrant in my head.”

Lana just shook her head, “I can’t even imagine what you must be feeling right now.”

She took her hands and ran them over Lana’s defined biceps, humming contentedly, “Hmm, well at the moment, I’m feeling your arms so that’s far better than I was before.”

Lana sighed, but she flexed her arm and smiled, “I stand by my previous statement: you are ridiculous.”

Raelyn pulled herself up to kiss her again, “Mmm, and I am still _your_ ridiculous.”

“Indeed you are.”

\---

“Roar! I am the Dragon of Zakuul and I am going to eat you!” The voice of the Mirialan smuggler echoed through the hallway and Koth had just enough time to jump to the side before a hoard of children went running and giggling and screaming past him, Noghea not far behind with a ridiculous paper mask over her face. She broke character for a moment, tipped a salute to him, and went back on her path of terror.

Koth shook his head but smiled. Honestly, he was glad that Noghea had helped bring the refugees from the swamps on board. He didn’t recognize any of them from his past exploits shortly after his defection, and he tried not to linger on the thoughts about what happened to them. These people needed him here and now, and he’d do all he could to help them. Including letting them roam free around the Gravestone. Lana had crinkled her nose when she realized they could potentially hear their conversations about the Alliance, that any of them might be a spy for Zakuul and would ruin them. But Koth had put his foot down, reminded her that the Alliance existed for them, too. And, well, if there was a spy among them, better to take that chance than quarantine them into a stuffy cargo bay like cattle.

They mostly chose to hang together anyway in the larger rooms on the Gravestone - many of them had made a bit of a home in the cargo bay, but they had spread out into other areas, as well. Rimea had set up a sort of ragtag preliminary clinic in the cargo bay to diagnose any injuries or illnesses they might have been suffering from as they made the short jump from Zakuul to Asylum. He was glad for that, too. They would all be assessed more thoroughly on Odessen, but for now it was more than enough. For the first time in a long time he actually felt like his work had real meaning again - he could see the smiles on their faces as he passed out rations, as he told them stories from his own childhood on Zakuul, as he sat with them and just talked with them. And he’d been an anathema for so long too, to be able to simply share a meal with someone who’d experienced Zakuul as he had was therapeutic in a way. Even in the three hours he’d spent with them, he felt more relaxed than he had been in a long time.

Raj, of course, noticed it right away, tapping his hip against Koth’s as he walked past him with a box of medical supplies in his arms.

“Hey!”

“Hay is for Uxibeasts!” he replied with a huge grin on his face.

Koth scrunched up his face, “Ha. Hilarious.”

“I knew you’d think so,” Raj said, reaching over to kiss him on the nose.

Any sort of irritation bled out of him in that moment and he just shook his head and laughed.

“Glad to see you boys are having fun,” Rimea noted dryly, gently applying a bandage to a little boy’s scraped knee. She kissed his knee and then his forehead and sent him on his way after the rest of the gaggle.

Raj put down the box with a thud, “What can I say? I’m living the dream.”

She looked up at him, only barely resisting the urge to roll her eyes, “Mhmm.”

Koth stifled a laugh with his hand, which caused Raj an immeasurable amount of glee.

“I don’t suppose you’d like to be useful?” Rimea offered as she started to unpack and sort the medical supplies from the box Raj brought, “There’s one child I haven’t been able to evaluate. She keeps to herself over there-” she pointed “-and the other adults say she’s never said a word to them. I’m worried about her, but she won’t let me near her.”

Raj eyed her suspiciously, “What makes you think she’ll talk to me?”

Rimea just grinned, “Hmm there’s just something about you. Something…”

“Childish?” Koth supplied cheerfully.

“Perhaps not the word I would have chosen,” Rimea said, “But yes. Relatable to a six-year-old.”

Raj pouted and spun on his foot dramatically, “Oh, I’ll relate to her alright. I’ll relate to her so much we’re going to become relatives! Just you see!”

He stomped off towards the place where Rimea had noted.

She looked to Koth, “You may want to go with him… Keep him out of trouble.”

“Probably a good idea,” he replied, taking off after Raj.

He weaved through boxes and makeshift huts and personal areas outlined in chalk. The pathway zigged and zagged through the cargo bay, and more than once he almost tripped on something or someone when his concentration lapsed for a moment. A few heads turned as the two captains made their way to the back of the room, but not all of them. It wasn’t until he caught up to Raj in front of the girl that Koth noticed there was a growing crowd of prying eyes on them.

But Raj paid them no attention as he made his presence known to her, whistling as he rounded the corner to her hiding spot, where she sat on the ground with her knees tucked under her chin and her hands wrapped around her legs. Her dark chestnut hair was tied in a messy loose ponytail, and her rich ebony skin nearly blended into the shadows she sat in. If not for the whites of her eyes and the pale gray t-shirt, he might not have seen her there at all. And given Rimea’s description of her, she probably wanted it that way.

The Smuggler looked back and gave a wink as he pulled out two sticks of bubblegum and sat against the wall perpendicular to the girl. She looked up at him curiously, but pulled her legs tighter to her chest. She didn’t have any shoes.

Rather than crowd her with two large male adults, Koth took a step back around the corner and pulled out a datapad. He tried to look casual as he looked up shoes for little girls, but listened intently to the exchange behind him.

“This is a nice corner you’ve got here,” Raj said cheerfully, but purposefully kept his voice from projecting, “A nice corner is a totally undervalued commodity these days.”

There was silence from the girl as he chewed absently.

“Would you like a piece? No? Well, maybe later. I’ll keep this one in my pocket just for you in case you change your mind, alright?”

Another few moments of silence passed, and Koth bookmarked a couple pairs of boots and athletic shoes to look at again later when he wasn’t trying to eavesdrop. Someone shuffled a little, he assumed it was Raj moving his feet out from under him.

“My name is Raj,” he said, “What’s your name?”

A voice so quiet, so small that Koth wouldn’t have heard it at all if he wasn’t listening for it, replied, “Jinnia.”

Raj gasped quietly, “Jinnia! That’s a _beautiful_ name! You must have picked that out yourself!”

The little voice giggled a little.

“And you know the man around the corner, pretending he’s not listening to us?” Koth blushed instantly, but Raj clearly meant it in jest, “That’s Koth. He’s my favorite person in the whole galaxy.”

“The whole galaxy?”

“Mhmm.”

There was a little pause as Jinnia gathered her courage, “How can you know that? Do you know everyone in the galaxy?”

Raj laughed a little louder, “Ha! Aren’t you a little philosopher? Tell you what, how about I introduce you to him and you tell me if he’s your favorite person in the galaxy, too?”

Koth poked his head around the corner to see that Jinnia had moved right up beside Raj, legs still tucked up under her chin, but her head was held high and her amber eyes sparkled in the dim light. She was clearly dubious about Raj’s methods, and as soon as she noticed Koth’s movement, her eyes went wide and she buried her head in her legs again.

“Hey, hey,” Raj soothed, rubbing the top of her head, “It’s alright. That’s Koth! He’s very nice. Very _very_ nice.”

If he kept this up, Koth’s entire body was going to blush.

He patted the ground beside him gently with his other hand, and Koth went over and sat beside him.

“Did you know that Koth is Zakuulan, too?” he asked absently, holding onto Koth’s hand on one side and messing with Jinnia’s hair on the other, “He’s also the Captain of the Gravestone!”

Jinnia looked back up at him and Raj pulled his hand back.

“What’s a Gravestone?” she asked.

“It’s a ship! A really big and special ship that you’re sitting in _right now_ ,” he replied, as giddy as a schoolboy. Koth felt himself falling in love with him all over again.

Jinnia looked over to Koth, wonder in her eyes rather than fear now, “A ship captain?”

He nodded.

Raj blew a bubble in his gum and it burst all over his chin, which drove Jinnia into a giggle fit. And Scyva, she was so cute. Their little corner of the cargo bay seemed to light up and she glowed with joy. Raj tried to look embarrassed at first, but gave up after all of two seconds and all three of them were laughing together.

“Can you teach me that?” she asked as Raj wiped the last of it off his face - and stuck it back in his mouth… He really was a child.

He smiled, “I sure can. But I need you to do me favor first, okay?”

She looked skeptical.

Raj held out his hand to her, “Can you come with me to see Miss Rimea so she can make sure you’re not sick or hurt? I promise I’ll be with you the whole time.”

Jinnia frowned, “Will it hurt?”

Raj shook his head emphatically, “Nope. Not a bit.”

“Is she nice like you?”

“Miss Rimea? Oh, she’s way nicer than me.”

“Promise to stay?”

“I promise.”

“And Koth too?”

They both looked at him, the same hopeful expression from amber and green eyes. Yup, he was a goner.

“Count me in,” he replied gently. Raj squeezed his hand and smiled.

“So, what do you say, kiddo?”

Jinnia took his hand and nodded, “Okay. But bubbles after.”

Raj just laughed and pushed himself off the floor, “Bubbles after. If you want, I can show you the bridge, too. I’ll bet you’ve never seen so many stars before.”

The three of the wove their way back to the entrance where Rimea was sitting, Raj holding Jinnia’s hand in front with Koth right behind them. She kept looking up at him with stars in her eyes, and he was absolutely oblivious. Just whistling to himself, waving at the other refugees who were curiously watching the three of them parade through the cargo bay.

Rimea looked up from her datapad with a knowing smile on her face as they all neared.

“Hey, sis!” Raj greeted even as the little girl hid behind him, “This is Jinnia. Jinnia, this Rimea. She’s my little sister. She’s going to take a look and make sure you’re healthy, okay?”

Slowly, Jinnia peeked out from behind Raj’s leg, nodding silently. She sat on a cardboard box Rimea had set up and swung her feet, her left hand firmly in Raj’s. Koth stepped back against the wall, but made sure Jinnia could still see him as Rimea checked her over. Raj sat beside her on the floor and blew more bubbles with his gum to keep her occupied.

After about fifteen minutes of gentle poking and prodding and test taking, Rimea seemed satisfied and nodded to Raj, “She’s a bit malnourished, but that’s to be expected from life in the swamps. I’m a little concerned about muscle formation in her legs, but she seems to walk just fine, so that may be nothing. Maraalor will probably want to take a look at her just in case.”

Jinnia leaned over and buried her head in his chest, curling up into herself again. Raj kissed the top of her head and wrapped his arms around her protectively.

“Think I should take her until we get to Odessen?” he asked Rimea, “She doesn’t really seem comfortable here.”

She shrugged, “If that’s what Jinnia wants, I don’t see an issue with that. Just maybe don’t let her have full control of the ship, yeah?”

Raj grinned mischievously, “Where’s the fun in that? I’m sure she’d make a great pilot! Right, Jinnia?” he took her shoulders gently and moved her just enough that he could look in her eyes, “You’d make an excellent ship captain. You’ve got all the right stuff for it! What do you say, kid? Wanna hang out with me and Koth until we get home?”

She threw her little arms around his neck and buried her face into his neck with a smile, her eager eyes looking right at Koth. He had a feeling Jinnia would stick around for much longer than just the trip back to the base.

\---

Senya walked slowly beside her, hands clasped behind her back. She and Aelacc were finishing up their rounds through the Gravestone, making sure no straggling skytroopers had made it inside. They hadn’t discussed their route beforehand, but walked together in a comfortable silence through the halls and rooms of the enormous ship.

They made their way through the final unchecked hallway, the one to the ancient monolith, the heart of the Gravestone. Aelacc hadn’t spent any time there while she’d been aboard, something about it deeply unsettling to her. Noghea and Risha had investigated a couple times, but not even they had spent a lot of time down there. And now that there were others on board and they were in hyperspace, something felt different. Familiar. Terrifyingly so.

But with Senya beside her this time, quietly humming some lines from a song she wrote, Aelacc felt safe. Or at least more so. Between the two of them, they could certainly handle whatever darkness resided there.

She looked over to the older woman, who returned her gaze gently, cloudy blue eyes serene and confident.

“Something on your mind, Aelac’camo?” Senya asked, “You seem nervous.”

Aelacc shook her head, “I’ve never felt anything like this before. I’m not sure what to make of it.”

Senya smiled, “I’ll admit, I, too, was drawn here. I am glad we could make the journey together.”

The Twi’lek nodded and turned her gaze back to her boots as silence fell upon them again for the remainder of their journey.

As they entered, the spiritual form of an older man manifested before them. White hair, beady yellow eyes, crinkled nose. His aura separated from that of the Dark Heart and Aelacc’s heart jumped to her throat as her hand went for her lightsaber.

“Hello, Jedi. Wife.”

“Valkorion,” Senya breathed, her eyes wide. But she didn’t reach for her weapon.

He nodded and grinned, and Aelacc had never been more intimidated by straight white teeth before. He didn’t even acknowledge the lightsaber in her hand.

“My two favorite women,” he said, taking a step forward and brushing his non-material hand against Senya’s face tenderly, “My wife, and the mother of my children, whom I fully ravished on many occasions.”

Aelacc cringed and shuddered, and he turned his attention to her, putting his hand to her own face, a cold brush of air hitting her cheek as she squeezed her eyes shut and shied away from it.

“And my Jedi pet, so determined to turn me to the light that she could see the trap I’d laid so neatly for her. And when she finally did land the killing blow to my Voice, so wholly broke herself that she hid away from the galaxy until now.”

She was crying, she knew that much, fear planting her feet squarely to the metal floor. Had he always been here, part of the ship? Was this another dream? Was he planning on taking over her thoughts and actions again? She wasn’t sure she could live with herself if she did his bidding for a second time...

Senya snapped out of her stupor first, “What are you doing here, Valkorion?”

He paced casually with his hands behind his back, “I am simply here to say hello, and tell you that I am very much still alive, if bound by the presence of the Wrath. We all are fighting together again, and I thought you two should know, seeing as we all have been so close over the years.”

Aelacc whimpered and put her hand to her mouth to keep more from tumbling out.

“Get out,” Senya commanded forcefully, “You’ve tormented us both quite enough.”

He just tsked at her, but began to fade, “So ungrateful.”

His presence blended back into that of the Dark Heart and Aelacc fell to the floor on her hands and knees, heaving out breaths between sobs.

Senya knelt beside her and tentatively put a hand to her back, rubbing up and down comfortingly. She shuddered at first, but Senya was a calming presence and she found herself relaxing under her touch.

“It’ll be alright,” she soothed softly, “He can’t hurt you anymore, Aelac’camo.”

Aelacc shook her head and rested back on her knees, wiping her eyes and nose with the back of her hand, “No. Nobody will ever be safe from him. I can’t… I can’t let him hurt anyone else.”

Senya took her hand and hauled them both off the floor, “Let the Alliance worry about Valkorion. I fear your mental health would only spiral downward if you truly faced him again. You are far too kind for us to lose you to a madman like him, my friend.”

Aelacc met her eyes and pleaded almost silently, “I would give anything to make the galaxy safe from him. I can’t do _nothing_.”

“I am not suggesting that you do nothing,” Senya explained, releasing her hands, “There are billions of people in the galaxy who have been affected by Valkorion. We need to aid them, as well.”

She felt a little pang in her heart as she heard her master’s last words to her again, “You sound like Master Orgus.”

Senya smiled gently, “Come, let’s leave this place. We should land on Asylum soon.”

Aelacc nodded and followed her out of the room, turning back once to look at the vast space again. Valkorion wasn’t there, but she couldn’t shake the feeling he was still watching her.

\---

Raj walked by the medbay for what seemed like the twelfth time in as many minutes. Raelyn was still in there on the bed, a blanket over her legs, reading her datapad. She didn’t even look up when he walked by, but he couldn’t tell if she was ignoring him or just couldn’t hear him. Part of him secretly hoped she’d just invite him in, rip the bacta patch off. And the other part of him was absolutely terrified that she’d do just that.

When he entered the bridge again, Noghea was sprawled across a chair and was eating a box of bang-corn - stars only know how she procured _that_.

“Koth, your jittery boyfriend is back again,” she drawled, “Think he’s gonna need a pep talk.”

A hand grabbed his and he jumped back with a yelp.

“Whoa, there, easy, it’s just me,” Koth said, reaching up and kissing his cheek, “Let’s go somewhere a little more private, yeah?”

“Ooooooo somewhere private?” Noghea laughed heartily, “Risha, we need to start giving each other these kinds of pep talks!”

“Whatever you say, dear,” her wife replied from inside one of the control panels.

Raj just stared at her wide-eyed, too mired in his own thoughts to actually reply with anything witty.

Koth tugged on his hand, “Hey, come on.”

It didn’t take long to find a shadowy unoccupied nook away from most of the hub on the ship. Koth took both of Raj’s hands in his and tilted his head a little in an unspoken question.

He let out the breath he was holding, “Jinnia is still asleep?”

Koth nodded, “Yep, taking up the whole bed while she’s at it. Didn’t think someone so small could spread out so far.”

Raj laughed a little nervously, leaning forward to touch his forehead to Koth’s.

There was another moment of quiet between them before Koth asked, “Is Jinnia what you’re nervous about? Because I know we didn’t really talk about it first, but I like her and she deserves some peace, y’know?”

Raj shook his head, “No, no it’s not Jinnia…”

“Then what’s wrong?”

He took a deep breath, “Raelyn.”

Koth noticeably inhaled and pursed his lips together, “Oh.”

“I don’t know how to talk to her,” Raj continued, playing with the other man’s hands to keep himself from shaking, “It’s been, what? Fifteen years since I last talked to her? I hardly know anything about her anymore other than she was the Empire’s Wrath and then got captured by Arcann. When I defected, I didn’t ever expect to see her or Rimea again. And now I’m here… with them… and I don’t… I don’t know how to talk to my own sisters.”

Koth leaned forward just slightly and kissed him softly, scattering the butterflies in his stomach, “Destiny has a funny way of catching up with us,” he said quietly, “Sometimes you just have to let it take you where it goes. Your sisters were creating an Alliance of both Republic and Sith, I don’t think they’re going to hold your defection against you.”

“But how do I even start a conversation with them?”

Koth shrugged, “Like you would with anyone else. You’ll have time to fill in all the gaps in your relationships. It doesn’t have to happen with one conversation.”

“They’re so accomplished, though… Everyone knows the Empire’s Wrath and Cipher Nine. I’m just a dumbass smuggler.”

“A dumbass smuggler who rid the galaxy of both the Voidwolf and Rogun the Butcher, uncovering a Sith spy ring in the process. With Noghea as copilot, no less. I’m not from your part of the galaxy, but even I know that was a big deal,” he said with a wink.

Raj laughed a little, felt the tension between his shoulders dissipate, “Sometimes I forget that even happened. That was wild, huh?”

Koth smiled warmly, “Don’t sell yourself short, babe. It’ll be fine. And if it’s not fine, I’ll be here for you. We can take the Gravestone and just book it.”

Raj embraced him tightly, “Thank you, Koth.”

“Hey, no worries. It’s in the contract - didn’t you get one of those?”

They both broke out into laughter then, and any nervousness remaining bled out of Raj as they hugged in that little shadowy corner.

“Love you,” he whispered.

“Love you, too,” Koth replied, breaking their embrace, “Now get going.”

Raj saluted him, “Aye aye, Cap’n!”

Admittedly, by the time he wandered all the way back to the medbay, the knots in his stomach were returning and his thoughts were racing again. But he could do this. If Koth said so, it had to be true.

When he reached the doorway for the thirteenth time that day, he was surprised to see Rimea outside it, holding a box in her hand and taking multiple deep breaths.

“Hey there,” he greeted casually, “Whatchya got there?”

Raj peered over the edge of the box and discovered… nothing.

“I dare say, Rimea, that box is empty.”

She smiled a little and looked into the box sheepishly, “It is. I was, uh, oh this is silly isn’t it, I needed an excuse to just go in. I’ve been standing here for eight minutes and thirty-seven seconds trying to muster the courage to go in.”

Raj laughed and pointed with his thumb behind him, “I just had Koth give me a pep talk to go in and talk to her.”

Rimea looked up a him, still smiling but her brows furrowed a little and her eyes glazed over for a minute.

“If we’re going to be awkward, could you at least please come _inside_ the medbay?” Raelyn called. Rimea and Raj both took a step into the doorway to look at her; she was still sitting up with the datapad against her legs, but she looked up at them with a half smirk on her face. “I know it’s been eighteen years, but we don’t need the whole ship to know that we don’t know how to talk to each other.”

Raj found himself laughing and took a step inside the medical bay. Rimea followed him a little hesitantly. Raelyn powered off her datapad and set it on the table next to her. He sat on the foot of the bed while his sister took the lone chair beside it.

And nobody knew how to start. They just looked at each other with vague smiles and uncomfortable silence.

Finally, Raj cleared his throat, “So, uh… how’ve you been?”

Raelyn looked at him dubiously, “I’ve been better. But I’m not dead so that’s something. How are you?”

“Oh… you know… I’m good, I’m good... You?”

She rose her eyebrow, “You just asked me, Raj.”

He rubbed at the back of neck and stared at his lap, “Ha, yeah, guess I did. Don’t suppose anything has changed in the last fifteen seconds?”

Raelyn laughed then, and it was strained and tired, but she laughed nonetheless, “Unfortunately, no.”

Rimea put a hand to her shoulder and squeezed gently, reminding Raj of how close the two of them had been all those years ago. And how similar they looked, both with the same rich dark skin and angular features, but while Raelyn shared his green eyes, Rimea’s were a deep brown.

“Can we do anything for you, Raelyn?”

Older sister looked to younger sister and took her hand, “You’re already doing it.”

Rimea’s eyes welled up almost immediately and she visibly tightened her grasp on Raelyn’s hand.

“After all this time,” she continued quietly, “I wasn’t sure we would ever be in the same room again. And certainly not like this.”

Rimea chuckled, “There were a few years where I didn’t even _want_ us to be in the same room again.”

Raelyn gave a wane smile, “I know. I’m sorry for the hell I put you both through.”

“But you didn’t do anything to me?” Raj protested.

“There were many things which I failed to do for you, Raj,” she explained slowly, choosing her words with care, “I was so concerned with my own ambitions within the Empire that I hardly even looked at your grievances against it. I let you slip out into space without anyone on your side even after you trusted me with the knowledge that you felt alone.”

He shook his head and reached forward for her other hand, “Hey, that was my own choice, Rae. Nothing you could have done to change that or make the Empire better. I knew why you didn’t keep writing, and I never held that against you. I made my way well enough, made some friends, even found my way back to you two by some miracle.”

“I, too, have made my peace with our history,” Rimea said quietly, nodding to the datapad on the table, “But you know that.”

Raelyn smiled a little more genuinely, “Thank you. Both of you. For being here and for being who you are. I’m so proud of both of you.”

Both Raj and Rimea blushed a little and didn’t know what to say to that. “Thank you” seemed far too understated. So another silence settled over the top of them again, but it was far less oppressive this time.

All the same, Raj grinned after a moment or so, “Hey, we just had a three minute conversation! Go team!”

The three of them laughed as if they were children again without a care in the world, as if they did this sort of thing regularly, as if they weren’t currently trying to bearing the weight of saving the galaxy.

“If Captain Politryk could make his way back to the bridge, that would be mighty appreciated,” Noghea called over the intercomm, “And to all passengers, we will be exiting hyperspace in about three minutes-” she stopped to chuckle at her own jab, and Koth grumbled something in the background “-so if y’all could prepare yourselves that would be spectacular!”

Raj squeezed Raelyn’s hand one more time and stood, “That’s my cue. We’ll have to do this again sometime, yeah? Start catching up for real now that the jitters are out.”

His sisters smiled and nodded at him in unison as he left. Koth was right - they’d have plenty of time to patch up the holes in their relationships. But this was a start, and a damn good one.


	4. Asylum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for depictions of violence, battle, and injuries consistent with the game.

“Outlander, your arrival on Asylum has been foretold. The Scions request your presence. Coordinates are attached. Come alone.”

The recorded message ended abruptly, the gray-haired mystic’s image disappearing in a blink.

“Well… good thing it’s not a trap,” Raelyn scoffed, still sitting in the medical bay cot, but the golden undertones had returned to her skin and her head didn’t threaten to explode anymore, so that was a plus.

Senya paced the room in thought, “The Scions would be valuable allies. Arcann hates them - he had them exiled and massacred as soon as he took the throne - and that likely won’t be forgotten for more than a lifetime.”

Lana shook her head, “It’s too much of a liability. Just because we share an enemy does not mean we can trust them.”

Raelyn looked to Aelacc, who leaned against the far wall with her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes closed, listening intently to the conversation. Occasionally her head would tilt, her brows would furrow, or her lekku would twitch, but she said nothing.

“Hey!” a loud and rambunctious voice called as a small blue-haired human passed the door, her voice sounding almost like two offset gears grating against each other out in the hallway, “Your Outlander looks like a flatcake that’s been dropped on the floor, Cap’n. Is she dying? Can I have her stuff?”

“Oh, for Scyva- Tora, you can’t just ask if you can have someone’s stuff!”

“Would you rather I just take it?”

Koth grumbled something and pulled her along and out of earshot.  
Raelyn swung her feet off the side of the bed, wiggling her toes and stretching her arms behind her, “Lana, help me into my armor.”

The woman in question stared at her, blinking, “Raelyn, you are absolutely _not_ going out there alone.”

She cocked an eyebrow, “Wasn’t planning on going alone. If the Scions want to meet, then fine. I’ll meet them.”

Senya shook her head, “They won’t allow your companion in the building.”

Raelyn shrugged and looked back to Lana, “Then I guess you’ll just have to wait outside. But I’m still going. We need all the help we can get. And I need to get out of this damn ship.”

_Hmm… The Scions were always rather pitiable playthings for me. So bound to destiny. But we… we are not bound to destiny, are we, Raelyn? We shape the galaxy-_

_Yeah, yeah, I’m gonna have to cut you off there. They’re still people, you dickhead. Stop calling people ‘things’._

She could practically hear him rolling his eyes in the back of her head, but he receded again.

Aelacc shuddered and picked up her head, violet eyes scanning the room cautiously. She met Raelyn’s gaze and stopped. She felt his presence, too. And it certainly wasn’t a comfortable sensation from the fear etched in her eyes and brows.

All the more reason to get out of this ship.

“We aren’t safe here!” Lana protested, “Asylum is off most star charts, and out of Arcann’s control, yes, but it is still a port controlled by warring gangs who would do just about anything for a quick profit! If Arcann or Vaylin get wind that we are here, we will be obliterated! They’ll destroy the entire port! We must leave this place as quickly as we can.”

Raelyn couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen Lana Beniko frightened. Even on Yavin IV, when the false Revan threatened to destroy all life on the moon - including their own - she wasn’t frightened. Even on Ziost, when the emperor commanded troops and the Sixth Line and devoured the planet, she wasn’t frightened. Determined, hurried, stressed, maybe. But never frightened. And Raelyn knew that a few street skirmishes wouldn’t scare her.

She nodded to Senya and Aelacc and motioned to the door - both women took the hint and left the two Sith in the medbay alone.

“For being the Minister of Intelligence, you are a _horrid_ liar,” she noted as soon as the room was silent again. Raelyn stood on shaky legs and wrapped her hands loosely around Lana’s waist, “What’s actually wrong, darling?”

Lana hesitated as she found the right words, resting her palms on Raelyn’s collar and wrapping her fingers around the back of her neck, “I cannot explain it. I don’t trust Heskal or the Scions. I don’t trust Asylum. The Force is practically screaming at me to leave this place as soon as we can. That I am putting you in danger simply by allowing the Gravestone to dock here.”

Raelyn frowned, “How long do we have before Noghea and Risha return and the Gravestone is ready to fly again?”

She turned her wrist and looked at her chronometer, “An hour.”

“Alright, then we give Heskal an hour. If I’m not out of their hideout in time, you come in, lightsaber blazing.”

Lana nodded, “I still don’t like the idea of putting you in danger like this.”

Raelyn tipped her head and kissed her, “Then it’s a good thing I’ll have you to save me.”

“You are insufferable,” she replied, shaking her head and holding back a smile.

“I absolutely am. Now help me into my armor, I still have to _look_ threatening.”

\---

“So… you’re the Captain’s boy?”

Raj chuckled nervously, hyper-aware in that moment of just how large Len Parvek was, and how quickly he could break Raj in two. The two of them stood alone in the galley as Raj was putting away foodstuffs and supplies for the crew. Now that Koth’s old team had joined them, there were a lot more mouths to feed, and Odessen could probably handle it without much trouble, but the Gravestone desperately needed to restock.

“Ha, yeah, I guess you could say that,” he replied, refusing to make eye contact.

Len looked him up and down, bare arms crossed over his chest. Raj couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being judged and measured by Koth’s former first mate. He hoped he wasn’t found wanting.

“You treatin’ him right?”

“That really seems like a question to ask him,” Raj replied, “But, uh, yeah, I think so. Try to, anyway.”

“You ain’t gonna turn him in to the Knights, yeah?”

“Of course not!” he answered, tumbling over in his surprise, “Who do you think I am?”

Len squinted, leaned against the counter, and grumbled something under his breath.

Raj stood up and faced him, mirroring his position somewhat clumsily, “Why would you ask that? Do you think I’m some sort of covert spy? Looking to get the drop on Koth at any minute? My sister is the kriffin’ _Outlander_ , for Scyva’s sake! _He’s_ the one who convinced _me_ to go on this crazy-ass mission, not the other way around! How long has it been since you even saw Koth, huh? Three? Four years? He’s a grown man, Len. He doesn’t need someone to fight his battles for him. Especially when there’s not a battle to fight! _I love him_ , and that’s the kriffin’ truth, alright!?”

Immediately, the other man’s posture relaxed, and he dropped his arms to throw them around a very confused Raj. For several particularly uncomfortable seconds, Len said nothing at all. Just stood there and embraced him. His sudden change in heart was inexplicable.

“The Captain needs someone like you,” he said finally, “Saw him get burned enough times by folks who took advantage of his trustin’ nature.”

Raj eyed him, still skeptical, “So your preferred tactic was to interrogate me point-blank?”

He shrugged and laughed, “No one ever accused me of bein’ the brightest crew member. But someone has to keep the ship flying when he goes off to save the galaxy. If it can’t be me, I’m glad it’s you.”

Even years later, Raj couldn’t tell you how much of that statement was literal, and how much of it was figurative.

But he nodded, “Uh, thanks. I think?”

Len clapped a meaty hand to his shoulder and grinned, “It was nice to meet ya, Captain. I’ll see ya on the bridge.”

Raj just nodded again, staring off into the distance as Len left the galley. Of the whole bizarre conversation that just happened, he only had one thought: _What if he didn’t want to keep the ship flying? What if he wanted to fight beside Koth while he tried to save the galaxy?_

\---  
The journey across the Asylum port to the Scions was not a very pleasant one at first. The smell of gorak and oil overwhelmed Raelyn’s still oversensitive nose; the sounds of muffled blaster fire and street skirmishes inundated her ears; the sight of hundreds of refugees, decrepit and haggard, bombarded her eyes. She leaned against Lana when her feet threatened to fall out from under her.

Lana took her hand without so much as a thought, and bore her weight without missing a step. Raelyn was sure she would protest again at this expedition, but she said nothing.

Asylum was little more than recycled rubble turned into homes and businesses, but it was constantly in motion and very much alive. To call it vibrant would be inaccurate, as many of the buildings and people were vague dull shades of beige, but there was a sort of vibrancy to the crowds and the markets. People were out and about, just going about their days as normal, despite the enormous ship that just docked. Dust swirled up all around them, between the crevices of the alleys and the cracks of the walls. She drew strength from the force of this place, from its vitality and its movement.

It was warm outside, far warmer than on the Gravestone. The heat seeped into Raelyn’s skin, and it was… well, it was _wonderful_. She shivered at first just from the sheer difference in temperature, but she could feel her muscles relax in the mid-afternoon sun. It beamed down through the gaseous clouds surrounding the shadowport, enveloping Asylum in a thick but dry heat. Lana, having not spent the last five years in ice, did not appreciate it nearly so much, but she bore it with dignity, as always. She pushed the sleeves of her armor up past her elbows and blew the hair out of her face, all while keeping her stride.

Raelyn stood a little taller, straightened her shoulders, and took the whole of her weight back as they neared the Scions’ hideout, shifting on her feet as she found her balance. Her knees didn’t tremble, but the tendons in her ankles and the muscles in her calves stretched and creaked in a warning.

It took them nearly twenty minutes to reach their destination, and they stood outside silently, not quite willing to part just yet.

“I still don’t like putting you at risk like this,” Lana said.

“I’ll be sure to note that if something goes horribly wrong, it’s not your fault.”

Lana didn’t laugh. In fact, she frowned even deeper, “You’re the last hope for the galaxy, Raelyn. If you… if you don’t come out of there, I don’t know what else to do to stop Arcann.”

Raelyn squeezed her hands, “You’ve still got the Gravestone. Still got the Alliance. Surely, one Sith Lord can’t mean that much.”

Lana’s gaze grew fiercer, and her jaw set, “You are far more than just a Sith Lord. Even beyond the fact that you have Vitiate in your mind, _you_ are the reason the Alliance was created at all. _You_ are the reason the Gravestone is flying again. _You_ are the reason we stand a fighting chance against Arcann and Vaylin.”

“I’m still just one person, my love,” she replied quietly, “The future of the entire galaxy cannot rest on my shoulders alone. It cannot rest on any one person, Lana.”

Lana paused for a moment, her chest rising and falling as she took a handful of deep breaths while she thought. Raelyn didn’t dare to interrupt her.

“One hour,” she said with her usual quiet determination, “If you’re not back after one hour, I’ll tear this building apart.”

Raelyn grinned and slid her hands on either side of Lana’s head, resting her thumbs on her jawline and kissing her slowly.

It clearly took Lana by surprise, and she jumped a little before she returned it, breathing a little loudly when they separated.

“Now is hardly the time and place for that,” she protested weakly, but the grin on her face said otherwise.

“Mmm you’re right. How about in an hour?”

Lana just shook her head and rolled her eyes.

Raelyn winked as she pushed out of her lover’s embrace and sized up the building before her. It was large, certainly - at least four or five stories high, which was considerable on Asylum - but the edifice was also smooth, and she could hardly tell which side was supposed to be the front. There wasn’t a single door or window to be found, and there was nothing to indicate what or who resided within.

As she stood before the hideout, something beeped, whirred, and then clicked and the entire wall opened.

She took one last look at Lana, who met her gaze and nodded silently.

And Raelyn took a step inside.

\---

“Oh, come on, babe, please? When on Coruscant-”

Risha sighed heavily, “Fine. Get the gorak. But I am not cleaning up after you when you inevitably get food poisoning from it!”

Noghea kissed her cheek and took three long strides to the food vendor as her wife continued to peruse various sellers of ship pieces and scrap metal. She turned back as she waited for the gorak to be prepared, and gasped as she saw her wife again. Standing over a table, arms already laden with bits and pieces from the morning’s excursion, chestnut hair gleaming in the light, streaks of oil staining her cheeks. She was royalty. Even unknown in a lost port, Risha Drayen was royalty. She was a polished jewel in this dirty city, shining brilliantly among the muck. Butterflies shot up in Noghea’s gut as love and lust threatened to overcome her.

“Uh, ma’am,” the gorak seller said, tapping her shoulder, “here’s your gorak.”

The smuggler grinned broadly and took the meat gleefully, “Bless your heart, thank you.”

The cook vender blushed bright red at her words, bowing awkwardly. But Noghea was already halfway back to Risha, where she wrapped her arms around her and held her in closely.

“What did I ever do to deserve a woman like you?” she whispered quietly.

Risha shook her head and kissed her playfully, “They fill the gorak with hallucinogens? What’s all this for?”

“What, a woman ain’t allowed to be overcome with love for her wife, the Queen of Dubrillon?”

Risha kissed her again, both to tease her and to shut her up before she said anything else.

But Noghea stopped suddenly and pushed away, feeling the ground vibrating beneath her feet. She looked up and in the atmosphere appeared at least a dozen ships. They were a ways out, too far for anyone to be able to tell what kind of ship they were. But Noghea knew.

“Oh, I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” she muttered.

“What, is the gorak killing you already?” Risha taunted.

Noghea took a step back and pulled out her personal comm. When the Gravestone end clicked, she didn’t even wait for Koth’s form to appear fully before she started, “Koth, we’ve got trouble. Eternal Fleet incoming, at least a dozen of them. They’ll be on the ground in less than ten minutes. There are probably a few scouts already on the ground.”

His eyes went wide, and Risha put a hand to Noghea’s forearm, looking up into the sky.

Koth regained thought a second later, typing furiously on the console in front of him, “Oh, shit, do you two have everything we need? The turrets are down still, we’re practically a sitting mynock. The hyperdrive still isn’t online, we’re docked until we can get that up and running.”

Risha nodded, “We have everything. Have your crew start pulling apart the pieces that need to be replaced. We’ll be there in five.”

“Will do. Hurry back,” he said to them before turning behind him, “Hey! Where’s the Outlander? We need to get out of here!”

Noghea ended the call and looked to Risha, who had swung the bag of ship pieces over her shoulder and held her rifle in front of her.

“I love you so much right now,” the Mirialan breathed, “When we get out of this shit I’m going to kiss your fucking brains out.”

She grinned slyly, “Let’s see how many we can fuck up before we get back to the ship.”

\---

The inside of the Scions’ hideout was dark. And silent. She expected eyes to be on her from the moment she entered the building, but she felt nothing. Nothing at all. She reached out with the Force, and found nothing but a void.

And then she hit a brick wall.

Raelyn ignited her twin sabers, silver light immediately igniting and spilling into the room. It was only sparsely decorated, a few tables and vases cluttered the corners, lavish carpets folded over on themselves and laying haphazardly on the floor. Lightsaber slashes burned in the floor and walls, erratic and furious.

She camouflaged herself with the Force as she stepped lightly through the connecting rooms. She wasn’t skilled enough to truly stealth through the Force - her abilities were far more concentrated in melee and lightsaber techniques - but the camouflage would conceal her well enough that anyone not paying attention would simply see her as a passing shadow. If this was some sort of test or ritual, she was not going to be caught unaware. At least Valkorion was silent for the time being. One less thing to worry about.

If there was anyone alive in the hideout, they didn’t stop her, nor did they show themselves. If not the for the enormous brick wall in the Force that pressed against her, threatening to suffocate her, she might have thought the place had been abandoned.

Raelyn entered the finally room slowly, ignoring the increasingly more painful aches and creaks in her joints as she held her body low. This was the only room in the building where natural light permeated the space, illuminating the dust in the air and casting shadows onto the walls. Only one person stood in front of her, arms outstretched and hovering five or six inches off the floor.

“Heskal?” she asked, standing a bit taller with her lightsabers still engaged, “What is this about?”

He didn’t answer.

She looked at him a little closer, noticed the black eye and the gash on his forehead. And she felt it again: the brick wall. But it wasn’t coming from Heskal. She took three steps to the left in a wide arc around the Leader of the Scions, and as she did so, Heskal dropped to the floor in a heap and another man stood behind him.

Arcann Tirall.

He looked different than Raelyn remembered. Five years on the Zakuulan throne had not been particularly kind to him, it seemed. He still wore the ceremonial white and gold armor, still wore the broken mask and clunky robotic arm, but his left side seemed heavier, as if his body was struggling to continue bearing the extra weight. He had dark circles under his eye, and the mask that covered his face was chipped and scuffed. But he still had that glint in his eye, natural color eroded by the golden hue of rage and vengeance. And he was certainly just as powerful, Force radiating off of him in waves as he silently attempted to intimidate her. He whisked Heskal’s limp body to a far corner of the room with ease, and stared at her. She’d faced the Sith Emperor and lived, an uppity prince - no matter how powerful - wasn’t going to scare her.

Raelyn just stared right back, lightsaber extended, pacing in front of him slowly.

“Outlander,” he said, voice filtered through the mask, dark and low.

“I suppose you’re the one who orchestrated all this?” she hissed.

“On the contrary,” he replied evenly, “Heskal called us both here. He insisted to the end that our destinies were intertwined, that we must meet.”

Raelyn looked him up and down, “You never struck me as a destiny sort of guy.”

He shook his head, let out a noise that might have been construed as a laugh if Arcann was the type of man to do so, “I am beyond destiny. I forge my own future, choose my own path. The Scions believed that nobody can rise above their destined station. That is why I kill them.”

She was about to retort, about to tell him how ridiculous that sounded, about to tell him the worth of a life is far more than their opinions on _destiny_.

But time stopped.

Her vision clouded as it normally did when Valkorion inserted his presence into reality, and the dust hung in the air completely still. But unlike times past when he stopped everything, Arcann seemed to have been unaffected. He looked around the room in a panic, his eye flashing a brilliant blue for just a second as he lost his composure, his lightsaber igniting immediately as he looked for the source of the power. The heavy, solid wall of Force that radiated off of him earlier faltered and fizzled, colored with fear and panic and anxiety.

“Father,” he growled as soon as Shithead Almighty himself entered their line of vision.

“I do not know what I hate more,” Valkorion snarled, arms behind his back as he paced deliberately between his vessel and his son, “Cowardice or incompetence.”

Arcann stiffened and remained silent.

“You wonder why I never thought you were worthy of my throne, child? Why I have chosen this Outlander instead of you? Look around you! This is the work of a toddler having thrown a tantrum, _not_ of a man fit to lead an empire! You put on an air of authority, of power, but you are still a boy with no ambition, constantly reaching for things out of your reach because of jealousy alone!”

Raelyn took a step forward, “ _Enough_!”

Father and son both turned to her, and her eyes focused on Valkorion.

“I did not come here to listen to you piss on your own child!” she cried.

Arcann swung his lightsaber in a circle around his wrist, looking through his father at Raelyn, “You still home him in your mind.”

“Not by bloody choice! Trust me, Arcann, I want him out of here more than you do.”

“Oh, I very much doubt that,” he replied, regaining his composure and taking a step closer to her, “Come, Outlander. Let us see how far you’ll go to rid yourself of my father.”

And without another word, Arcann attacked.

\---

“We’ve got enemy ships coming in, about a dozen of ships, and who knows how many skytroopers!” Koth called over the loudspeaker, “We need all hands on deck until we can get the Gravestone in the air!”

The air in the Gravestone immediately changed - folks who were lounging in the common area lazily playing cards or reading or sipping on whiskey immediately jumped up and into action. They all pulled out their weapons and made a run for the exit to ward off their attackers.

Aelacc sat at the foot of her bed, resting on her knees in meditation. She had felt the energy from the Zakuulan Emperor and High Justice for nearly half an hour now, but had pushed aside her anxieties, told herself it was just because they were close to Zakuul. Or because Valkorion was trapped in Raelyn’s mind, remnants of his life still exuding into the universe. But now she felt the Eternal Fleet with them, and she knew she’d been wrong. Vaylin and Arcann were here. On Asylum.

She opened her eyes and stood only to find Senya in the doorway of her room, fully armed and ready.

“Senya?”

“When we fight out there,” the older woman said, looking far more tired and weary than normal, “Leave Vaylin and Arcann to me.”

Aelacc frowned, pausing as she hovered her hand over her lightsaber, “Shouldn’t we work together?”

Senya just shook her head, her brilliantly blue eyes glistened over, “No. This… this is a family matter, Aelac’camo. Vaylin… Arcann… I alone must bring them to justice.”

She moved forward, holding out a hand if Aelacc wished to take it, but the Twi’lek just stared at her, silently asking for an explanation.

“You heard Valkorion refer to me as his wife. We had no such formal arrangement, but… they are my children. If they are to die here, better to be at my hands.”

Aelacc moved her hand from her lightsaber to her friend, hesitating but taking Senya’s hand, “That is far too much for any one person to bear, Senya. Let me help you.”

Senya just shook her head, “No. Protect Koth’s crew. I will handle my children.”

There was a rustle outside in the hallway, and both women turned to see what the disturbance was. Rimea stood with her rifle in hand, looking at them with wide brown eyes.

“Of all the rumors on Zakuul...” she breathed, “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to impose or eavesdrop on anything private.”

Senya smiled gently, “It’s no problem, Rimea. The truth would have come out sooner or later. I am fortunate that you two are the ones hearing this first.”

“Uhh Force magicians?” Raj’s voice was coated in thick static, and permeated through Aelacc’s headpiece, “Could use you front and center. Vaylin’s down here and Koth’s crew’s got no way to handle her.”

Aelacc shivered as he said it.

Senya spoke into the comm in her wrist, “Any sign of Arcann?”

“That’s a negative,” came the captain’s voice again, “Consider ourselves lucky only one of the brats showed up.”

Senya frowned silently, but Aelacc replied for her, “Arcann is nearby, I can feel it. Warn Lana and Raelyn, he’s probably closer to them.”

There was a pause of static, but Raj answered, “Alright, if you’re sure. I’ll get word to Lana. But we still need you outside, please.”

“We’re on our way,” Senya replied coldly, steeling her expression and setting her jaw, taking her hand from Aelacc’s and gripping her saber with it.

Violet eyes met blue ones for a final time, a moment of gravity and grief passing between the two of them. But they nodded and left the small room with Rimea beside them.

\---

Flashes of gold and silver light collided in the dim chamber as Raelyn and Arcann’s lightsabers clashed. The air rippled with electricity and their weapons hummed as Raelyn spun away from her opponent. She gathered the Force in her hands and body, concentrated on the Dark Side, concentrated on her rage and her fury and her ire. If this bloody upstart wanted to fight her, then he would get a fight. And she would not go quietly into the night.

She screamed as she hurled herself at him again, landing both of her sabers against his, pressing her weight against him. Arcann caught her attack with a grunt, angling his lightsaber to halt both of the incoming blows at once. He straightened his feet beneath him and lowered his stance. Raelyn swept his feet out from under him and he fell to the ground with a thud on his hands and knees.

He laughed. It wasn’t a sound filled with joy, though. There was humiliation and agony in his voice as it filtered through his mask, gruff and hoarse.

Raelyn paced around him, dragging her lightsabers through the stone floor, causing sparks to jump and dance around the tips of her weapons. Her knees felt like they were crumbling under her weight; her arms felt like they were lifting boulders; her lungs screamed for air. But she circled Arcann slowly, watching him breathe heavily.

“We can still work together, Arcann,” she offered, “We have the same goal. We both want Valkorion dead.”

He wiped blood from his forehead with the back of his hand and stood, “We have _nothing_ in common. I am the Emperor of the most powerful civilization the galaxy has ever known! And you! You are _nothing_ compared to me! And I will _never_ be rid of my father if I do not kill you here and now.”

He leaped forward, crashing his body into Raelyn’s and sending them both sprawling across the floor, her lightsabers skittering behind them. Arcann jumped back up to his feet gracefully, although not particularly quickly. Raelyn rolled over onto her hands and knees, spitting out a mouthful of blood before she forced herself to stand again, despite the protestations of her entire body.

Arcann held out his hands beside him, the Force whirling around them manifesting into bolts of lightning. Instinctively, Raelyn threw out a shield of the Force to keep herself from getting hit, but in her weakened state, she couldn’t hold back all of the storm and she felt a bolt of electricity run down her spine.

She screamed in agony, calling a lightsaber to her and hurling it at him. He rolled out of the way, but the tip of the blade swiped against his exposed cheek just enough to burn him. He immediately brought a hand to his face and stared at her in disbelief.

“You… no… Father must… be…”

Time slowed to a halt again as Valkorion entered the space for a second time. But this time, Arcann was frozen. This vision was for Raelyn alone.

“Accept my powers, Raelyn,” he commanded, “You cannot hope to defeat Arcann alone. Not in this state.”

She wiped the mixture of blood and sweat from her lip, “Not gonna happen. Remember, Valkorion: you’re next.”

He sighed as the room moved once more, “Very well.”

“ _Father_!” Arcann screamed, evidently feeling his presence even if he couldn’t see it, “Enough of this!”

He pulled Raelyn towards him with all of his strength. And he ignited his lightsaber.

\---

“Oh, no no no no no,” Koth muttered from the captain’s seat.

“Great! That’s my favorite word ever!” Noghea replied in a huff, “What else could possibly go wrong!?”

Koth shook his head, “The Gravestone’s docks are clamped! We’re grounded until we can override those controls.”

Raj looked over to the Zakuulan captain apprehensively, kneeling in front of the dashboard as he finished rewiring the controls for the turrets.

The ship rocked as it was hit by one of the Eternal Fleet ships out in the atmosphere, but it was pulled back in a jerk that sent Raj slamming into the side console he was working on. Yup, those clamps were definitely bad news.

Noghea poked her head up from her post in the bowels of the bridge, “Please tell me you’ve got a plan or something for this.”

Koth shook his head, “There should be a spire somewhere in town that has all the docking controls. I’d bet my life that’ll be the place to go.”

“Then what are you waiting for, ya dingus? The three of us will get the ship in order, and when you get back we can blast outta here!”

He nodded shortly and headed for the door, picking up his rifle and slinging it on his back. Without even turning around he said to Raj, “Controls are yours, babe. Keep her in the air if I don’t get back in time.”

Raj lurched to his feet as the ship rocked and righted itself again, lunging for Koth’s hand as he tried to find his balance.

The Zakuulan turned to him with surprise as their eyes met.

“Not a chance,” Raj said quietly, “I’m going with you.”

Koth smiled, “Would be more romantic if I came back half-dead, though, wouldn’t it?”

Raj shook his head, tried to keep images of that scenario from manifesting.

“Don’t worry, Captain!” Len called as he came running into the bridge, “I’ve it under control! You go save the Gravestone!”

Still holding hands, the two Captains ran through the ship together, creating a plan to get to the control spire. It wasn’t going to be easy, what with all the fighting in the streets, but they stood a far better chance fighting and running together than they did alone.

They finally untangled their fingers when they exited the Gravestone, both pulling out their weapons to help Koth’s crew ward off the remaining skytroopers and Knights. Off on the left was Aelacc, fighting the Knight Captain with precision and grace. She whirled around him, dodging out of the way of his powerful blows, and using the Force to keep herself on her feet. To the right was a far more worrying sight - Senya was fighting Vaylin completely solo. As far as Raj knew, no one had ever fought Vaylin and lived, which wasn’t a promising statistic for his friend. But, if her survival thus far as a defector and her moves back in the Zakuulan swamps meant anything, she was the one who stood the best chance against the Princess of Zakuul. The two of them were shouting as they fought, but the sound of their voices were lost to the din of battle and the swirling dust in the air.

Koth fired off a few rounds at the skytroopers closest to the platform separating the Asylum dock from the Gravestone’s shuttle hangar, leaping over the makeshift barriers the crew had erected and bashing one of them in the head with the butt-end of his rifle before shooting the neural complexes out of the two on either side of it. He turned and smiled at Raj, who aimed his own blaster and took a shot right over his shoulder at the last skytrooper blocking their way into the port city.

Koth smiled even wider, sending butterflies through Raj’s gut even as he leaped to join him and they ran for the market.

\---

Lana Beniko paced the length of the Scion’s hideout. Raelyn had only been gone for about half an hour, but the Eternal Fleet ships were firing on the whole port now. And while she couldn’t see the Gravestone from here, she knew it must have been their primary target. She could also feel the weight and strength of a more powerful presence, which she could only assume at this point was the danger she’d felt in her gut since they landed here. Raelyn was in danger in that hideout; the Gravestone was in more danger the longer she lingered. But she’d said she would give Raelyn an hour. And Lana was nothing if not a woman of her word.

So she paced. She paced and she thought of the pros and cons of running into the building right now and dragging her love out from it and back to the ship.

“Lana, Lana can you read me?” the familiar voice of the youngest Politryk came from the audio comm unit on her wrist, sounding frantic and stressed.

She tapped the comm on her wrist and brought it closer to her face, “I’m here, Rimea, what’s going on?”

Blaster fire sounded in the background, and she could hear Koth’s blue-haired mechanic barking orders.

“The Gravestone is clamped down tight - Raj and Koth are on it, but as soon as they’re back, we gotta get out of here. What’s going on with Raelyn? I can’t get a signal through to her,” Rimea replied, a few rounds firing from her weapon.

That was bad news. Lana hadn’t yet attempted to comm Raelyn, but if Rimea couldn’t get a signal in… she tried not to think about it.

“And there’s worse,” Rimea continued through deep breaths, “Vaylin is here. Senya is holding her own against her for now, but both she and Aelacc insist that Arcann is here, too, and there’s no sign of him here. If he’s up in the control spire, I don’t know if Raj and Koth can fight him.”

Lana reached out with the Force, centering herself quickly in its power and its gravity, sending out tendrils into the surrounding area, wrapping them around buildings and refugees. She sent it out further, searching for Raj and Koth, but something tugged back, far closer. So she followed it.

“Lana?”

She ignored the comm, bringing back the Force and snaking it through the building in front of her. She couldn’t see what was in it, per se, couldn’t determine its layout or its contents, but the Force swirled around Raelyn, its presence hot and fiery, but it flickered dangerously. And then she felt it. The enormous brick wall.

How she missed it before, how she overlooked something as powerful and massive as this, she really couldn’t say. Something she’d have to meditate on later. For now, she knew she had to get in that building, whether the Scions wanted her in there or not.

“He’s here,” she replied finally, opening her eyes, “Arcann. He’s in the Scion’s hideout.”

“ _Oh no_ ,” Rimea breathed, “Raelyn?”

“Not dead yet,” Lana said shortly before clicking off the comm.

She looked up and down at the wall in front of her. She’d watched it open for Raelyn, and knew that she couldn’t just shove her lightsaber through and carve out an exit. So she took a step back and pushed her sleeves up over her elbows and drew in as much Force as she dared to. The Force was a valuable servant, far more powerful than anything else in the galaxy. But take in too much of it, and the user would fall into blinding darkness. She wouldn’t risk that, not even for Raelyn.

Lana took a deep breath and closed her eyes, and then with everything she had, pushed outwards, hearing metal buckle and tear from hinges, but she dared not look yet. She gathered the Force once more in her body, concentrated its power in her hands, and pushed out again, this time feeling the door come crashing down, and hearing it clang against the duracrete road.

Without even thinking, she ignited her lightsaber and ran in. She easily traversed the dim halls of the hideout, following its twists and turns into various rooms until she came to the final chamber.

Only to see Raelyn impaled on a golden saber, behind her the masked figure of Arcann Tirall.

“No!” she cried, racing forward with her lightsaber out.

Arcann pushed Raelyn off his lightsaber and reared to parry her attack, but did not move forward. Lana noticed his left side hanging tiredly, the burn mark on his cheek, the sweat dripping off his nose. Raelyn had fought valiantly.

Something hummed overhead, causing her to stop halfway into the room. Lana looked up, the plexiglass ceiling just translucent enough for her to see a shadow growing. And growing. And quickly.

With a jerk of her arm, she pulled Raelyn to her and ducked, holding her lover in her arms and shielding her as a shuttle careened into the building. Rubble fell all around them, and she could feel Raelyn beneath her, weakly putting up a Force shield around them.

When Lana looked down, Raelyn smiled a little, her voice little more than a whisper, “Not gonna… let you die… here.”

“Conserve your strength, darling,” she replied just as quietly, trying not to choke on her emotions. She couldn’t lose her composure - not here, not now, not when Arcann was probably still in the room with them.

Raelyn used the last of her strength to reach up and kiss her, “Think this might be the time and place, yeah?”

Lana kissed her right back, sending up silent prayers that this wouldn’t be the last time, that Raelyn wouldn’t be taken from her.

Laying Raelyn on the ground gently, Lana stood and turned with her lightsaber extended. The space where Arcann had stood just a moment before was now entirely occupied by the shuttle that had crashed through. She looked around the room, sent out tendrils of the Force once more, but couldn’t feel his presence. Not here, anyway. Lana wasn’t stupid enough to think that the shuttle had crushed him to death - but right now, she was not particularly concerned with the fate of the Zakuulan Emperor.

She disengaged her lightsaber and placed it back on her belt. Raelyn was unconscious, but her chest rose and fell shallowly. She needed medical attention and quickly. So Lana scooped her up and slung her lover over her shoulder. It wasn’t particularly comfortable, but it was going to be the best she could do.

And she ran for the Gravestone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait on this, folks!! I shoooould be back to posting a bit more regularly!! Thanks for sticking out this month-long wait!


	5. The Lady of Sorrows

Rimea saw Lana and the load she carried in her arms. She saw the sweat and the dust that covered Lana’s stone-etched face. She recognized the woman she was carrying, and her heart stopped.

Not again.

“Noghea, how’s the ship looking? Are we ready to jump yet?” she asked into her headpiece as she began to herd Koth’s crew back into the Gravestone.

“We’re all clear here,” came the reply, “Any sign of your sister? Just waiting on her.”

“We’re here,” Lana said through the comm, still a hundred yards or so from the ship, but Rimea saw her pick up her pace, “Get everyone onboard.”

“Lana, what can I-”

“Go, get everyone inside. We can worry about everything else once we’re out of the Fleet’s range.”

“You heard the lightning lady!” Tora hollered, taking two more shots in the air before dragging the crew member closest to her by the shirt collar back into the ship, “Get your asses inside! Captain Number Two, get those turrets to cover for us, would ya?”

Raj made an audible noise of offense, “On it.”

Rimea looked up and around the Gravestone. Shuttles and skytroopers were deploying quickly, more and more of them surrounding the ship. The noise was unbearable, the buzz of everything swarming them, threatening to kill them before they even undocked.

Aelacc threw her lightsaber at the Skytrooper closest to the ramp and pushed it off the side, giving Lana a clear path into the Gravestone. She looked over to Rimea and nodded a silent “Go, I’ve got this”. She replied in kind and bolted inside to prepare the medbay.

“We got a visual on Senya? Is she coming?” Koth asked over the comm.

There was a pause before the former Knight’s voice filtered through, “I’m here. We need to go.”

Lana quickly followed Rimea into the medbay, laying Raelyn on the cot she’d previously occupied. And stars, did she look terrible. She was covered in dust and dirt, her face contorted and ashen once more, and there was a clear hole right through her gut that seemed to be… glowing?

Koth interrupted her thoughts, “Alright! Everyone on? Punching out in three… two… one!”

The Gravestone creaked as it broke the cables holding it in place at the dock, pulled up slowly at first, but gathered speed until it hit the atmosphere. Lasers from enemy ships rocked everything inside, and occasional grumbled swears made their way through the comms. But as they gained speed and pulled away, the bombardment stopped. Rimea tried not to think about what that meant the Eternal Fleet must have been warming up. Then without warning, they rocketed into hyperspace.

“Woohoo! That’s my girl!” Koth shouted again, “Alright folks, take a breather - it’ll be a few days before we reach Odessen.”

Rimea exhaled loudly - one crisis averted. But Raelyn gasped loudly behind her, and she jumped back into action, heart racing.

“What happened?” she asked Lana, who was standing - hovering, really - over her lover’s unconscious body.

But Lana didn’t hear the question as she slumped into a chair and put her hands to her face. Gods, she must have been exhausted.

Rimea put her hand to the Sith’s shoulder, “Lana?”

She shook her head, “Arcann… he… I won’t lose her again, Rimea.”

There was a hazy purple light out of the corner of her eye, but she’d seen Lana’s healing powers enough times not to think anything of it. But she looked so tired, Rimea wondered how she even found the strength to do that much.

But after a quick squeeze to the Sith’s shoulder, she turned back around and faced her sister.

Senya and Aelacc came in shortly after she started applying kolto, both still covered in dust and grime, but thankfully very little blood.

“What can we do to help?” Aelacc asked softly, her voice betraying absolutely none of the fear in her eyes.

Rimea pointed to the cabinets behind her, but just as she was about to give instructions, both Raj and Koth came tumbling in, making the medbay more than a little crowded.

“Heard Rae was in bad shape, what can I do?” her brother asked, hands squarely on her shoulders as he looked over her onto the cot.

“Don’t know my Force magic real well, but judging by the purple clouds coming out of the hole in her stomach, I’d say she’s probably got better help than us, babe,” Koth replied, pulling Raj back and attempting to get him out into the hallway.

Rimea sighed, blinked slowly to center her thoughts, and then looked back down to Raelyn. The purple haze was there, just like she’d seen earlier and like Koth had pointed out. But now all the Force users in the room were staring at it, too.

Aelacc had all but folded into herself in the back corner of the room, and Rimea tried not to panic in response.

_It wasn’t Lana at all, was it?_

As if to answer her unspoken question, the other three women in the room all made silent eye contact, stopping Koth and Raj dead in their tracks.

“ _Vitiate_ ,” Aelacc whispered from behind them all.

There was a fair amount of incoherent yelling then as they all tried to comprehend the situation, Raelyn’s perilous status immediately ignored by everyone but Rimea herself. It didn’t matter to her who was healing her sister, they were doing a botch job and she needed to get some old fashioned medical assistance in there before they did more damage than good. But she really could have gone without the yelling.

“Why is he helping her? Why is he helping us?” Lana demanded, now pacing the room.

“There was a time where he was not evil, you know,” Senya retorted, “There were many times when he would have saved a life if he could. Why should it be so different now?”

“Wait, you sound like you know that from personal experience, Senya,” Koth interjected, “And how the hell would he be here now, helping? Your Outlander _killed_ Valkorion, or have you forgotten that, too?”

Senya audibly bristled, “Just what does that mean, Vortena?”

“All I’m saying is you seem to know a whole heck of a lot about our former Immortal Emperor.”

“Can we please focus on something that’s actually important for five minutes without you two getting into a screaming match?” Lana cried, lightning fizzling at her fingertips before she curled her hands into fists.

But both Zakuulans ignored her, and Senya took two long steps forward so she stood nose to nose with Koth, staring down at him, “I was a _Knight_ , part of the Emperor’s personal guard. But if you must know, Vortena, then _yes_ , Valkorion and I were… close, once.”

Aelacc slid down the wall with her hands to the sides of her head, lekku wrapped around her fingers.

Lana immediately turned from the group and knelt beside her without touching her.

“I won’t… not again, not again,” the Twi’lek Jedi repeated.

“He won’t, we’ll make sure of it, Aelac’camo,” she replied quietly. The bags under her eyes seemed to grow darker by the minute.

Koth looked around the room for answers, but none came.

A fair amount was lost after that for the next few minutes as Rimea took the relative quiet and focused, praying to every god she could think of while she stitched and wrapped and monitored her sister’s wound. She should be _dead_. A lightsaber wound like that would have killed anybody else. But it didn’t kill her. Not yet, anyway. Not if Rimea had anything to say about it.

Koth’s booming voice interrupted her thoughts, and brought the rest of the room to a grinding halt, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, so let me get this straight: _you_ were _possessed_ by Valkorion? And _you_ were _married_ to him _and_ bore his children? And now, he is living in _the Outlander’s_ brain!? What sort of Tythian hell is this? You’d think he’d be able to help with all of you here!”

Evidently, someone had brought him up to speed. Probably a combination of Raj and Lana.

“Valkorion _is_ helping,” Rimea replied quietly, putting her hand to her forehead as the forming migraine wrapped its way around her skull, “He is the reason she’s still alive, whether we like it or not. Now, if I could get some quiet in here, that would be much appreciated. I’ll let you know when I’ve got her stabilized to the best of my abilities.”

“I won’t leave her-” Lana protested, but Rimea just held up her hand and shook her head.

“Yes, you will. Clean yourself up, Lana. Get some rest, some target practice, something. You won’t do her any good like this. And neither will any of the rest of you.”

The five of them sulked on their way out, but Raj caught Rimea’s glance. He furrowed his brow, but she just shook her head. She’d find him later. After Raelyn was stable, and after she’d gotten a long, hot shower.

\---

Senya probably should have anticipated Koth’s visit to her quarters, but found herself surprised when she looked up from her meditations to find him knocking on the frame of the door.

“Captain Vortena,” she greeted slowly, opening her eyes from her meditations, “Are you lost?”

He shook his head, “Mind if I come in?”

“Not at all,” she replied, standing and moving to the small table and chairs in the far corner of the room, “Have a seat if you’d like.”

He mumbled a thank you as he sat down in the chair closest to the door, turning it so it wasn’t against the table itself. It was a maneuver Senya herself knew all too well - preparing for the worst with a quick exit. He could see the whole room from that position, including the door, which meant he was either feeling cornered and anxious, or he was going to tell her things she wasn’t going to like. Which might also add to the cornered and anxious…

“What brings you here, Vortena?” she asked calmly, setting her electric kettle to heat a couple cups’ worth of water.

Koth cleared his throat and flexed his hands into fists, “Never thought I’d actually be in here, y’know. Just, weird.”

“Be in the Gravestone in general? Or my room in particular?”

He chuckled nervously, “Both, I suppose. But mostly the latter. Never thought there’d come a day when we could sit down in private without weapons involved.”

“There’s still time for that.”

He clenched his hands even tighter, visibly keeping them in his lap but away from his blaster. He swallowed, and she shook her head.

“My apologies, that was a poor response,” Senya said, pouring two cups of tea and sliding one of them to the Zakuulan captain, repeating, “What can I do for you, Captain?”

He inhaled deeply, forcing the words to come out of his mouth, “I wanted… wanted to thank you. Didn’t have to take on Vaylin like that. Probably saved most of my crew by doing it.”

She nodded, looking down intently at the cup of tea, putting the hot liquid to her lips and taking a delicate sip, “It was my fight. Vaylin is my daughter, and I am the one who let her down. Let me be the one to take the fall for it.”

Koth coughed nervously, but still didn’t touch the mug in front of him, “Yeah, about that, too. I know I yelled earlier about you being Valkorion’s wife and all, but I get why you didn’t want to share that information.”

“Mmm,” she hummed thoughtfully, “That reaction was precisely why I didn’t.”

“Yeah, I know. I was stupid. Not using my head. But I am now, which is why I’m here.” He fidgeted with his hands, but he wasn’t looking over at the door quite so often anymore, so that was a start.

She wasn’t sure how to reply to that, so she nodded and folded her hands in her lap.

“Len’ll probably thank you for the next year or so, so I wanted to make sure I got to you first, I guess. So thanks. I still don’t know if I can trust you, but you were there when it mattered.”

Senya smiled softly, “I always will be.”

Koth sort of frowned for a moment as an awkward silence hung over the two of them, but he did move his hands to the cup of tea and take a tentative sip.

She grinned mischievously, “It’s poisoned, you know.”

He looked at her for a second and then barked out a laugh, “You know, you’ve got a real messed up sense of humor.”

“At least I’ve got one,” she replied with a shrug.

He grinned and lifted up the cup in the air, “I’ll drink to that.”

Senya did the same, shaking her head and holding back a laugh of her own. But she did notice that he didn’t actually take another sip… ah, well. Small steps, she supposed. It wasn’t like she was actively looking to befriend the Zakuulan traitor, mind you. He was still a traitor, it didn’t matter that they happened to be on the same side now.

Of course, that would also make _her_ a traitor. The very thing she swore to destroy when she took her vows as a Knight of Zakuul.

She looked back at Koth, who was looking around her room, silently investigating her space and living arrangements. There were crow’s feet in the corners of his eyes, laugh lines and worry lines in equal measure across his face. His goggles pushed his hair out of his face, and the sleeves of his jacket were rolled up. And it dawned on her that the two of them were in exactly the same position: away from their homeworld, disavowed by their families, traitors to the Empire and Emperor they loved. Because they needed to do what was right rather than what was ordered of them.

“Thank you, Koth,” Senya said, breaking the silence, “I admit, it is comforting to know there is someone else here who will fight for Zakuul with me. I’m not always sure of the others’ motives.”

He smiled, genuinely smiled, for the first time in her presence, “Hey, we Zakuulans have to stick together, y’know? Especially out here in the black.”

She nodded, “Agreed. And I apologize for the pain I’ve caused you these last four years. I know the apology isn’t enough, but I don’t know what else to offer you.”

The smile dropped from his face and he nodded solemnly, “Can’t bring back the crew I lost, or the sleepless nights. But thanks. Appreciate it all the same. I’ll admit it’s nice to not have to watch my back all the time anymore. You’re a pretty spectacular hunter, you know.”

Senya smirked again and took another sip of her tea, “Valkorion didn’t choose me personally for no reason.”

“Okay, gross, disgusting, ew,” Koth blurted out all at once, standing up abruptly and making fake retching noises, “Alright, that’s enough heartwarming and… Yuck… for one night.”

She chuckled quietly and shook her head.

Koth stopped in the doorway, though, and he turned around to her, “Are we good? No more spitting matches?”

Senya smiled genuinely this time, “Yes, I believe we are.”

He nodded, still leaning against the doorway, “Good. Glad we got that settled.”

“Goodnight, Captain Vortena,” she said gently.

He bowed dramatically as he stepped back out into the hallway, “Night, Senya.”

\---

It felt like it had been _weeks_ since Rimea had taken a shower. Between the chaos of leaving Zakuul, the permeating dust and grime of Asylum, and the time it took her to stabilize Raelyn, she was almost sure she’d just have to live with the grit in her skin and hair forever. But somehow there was enough hot water left for her to take her time and actually enjoy the process of getting clean. Which actually hadn’t happened in well over a year, if she was being honest; with all that had gone on on Zakuul and the nature of her work there, there was always the threat that someone would burst into her apartment, meaning she had to be ready for that at all times. So she hadn’t really slept well (not that she really ever slept well even before then) and she hadn’t been able to enjoy a long, hot shower since Manaan. Even still fighting the migraine from earlier, the shower was a welcome reprieve.

She slid on lounge pants, a too large sweatshirt, and fuzzy green socks before she sank into the couch with a datapad and a couple painkillers. She’d set Raelyn’s monitors to report directly to her datapad, in case there was some sort of emergency, Valkorion-induced or otherwise. For now, everything was relatively normal. White blood cell count was off the charts, but that was to be expected with an actual parasite festering inside her. But heart rate, oxygen levels, pulse, were all normal-

Someone knocked on the door, and she nearly jumped out of her skin.

“It’s open,” she called a moment later, after her heart stopped racing in her chest. She didn’t need to be afraid anymore - she was on a ship with her family and with friends, nobody was going to attack her here. But she supposed that had never stopped her heart from palpitating before.

Raj opened the door slowly as if he could sense that she was still recovering from being startled. He stood in the doorway wearing an old oversized Frogdogs tee and loose denim pants - notably without any footwear on whatsoever. Probably not a choice Rimea would have made given the shape the Gravestone was in…

She exhaled and smiled, “Hello, Raj.”

He grinned, but still stood awkwardly in the doorway, “Hey. Never did give you that hug I promised you.”

A hug sounded perfect in that moment. So she stood and approached him, snuggling into his chest as he opened his arms and wrapped them around her. He was warm, and he held her tightly. As if he was protecting her, shielding her from something. And she did feel safe in his arms, as weird as it was. They’d only been reunited a few days earlier, hadn’t had more than a handful of conversations, and before that they hadn’t seen each other for well over a decade. But he was still a comfort to her, still her big brother. Still her protector.

They stood close to the door for a long couple minutes, not actually saying anything. But it was obvious that he needed the hug as much as she did, and neither of them really wanted to let go. It was good to have her siblings back again. She hummed quietly and contentedly into his chest.

Eventually, they did separate and Rimea went back to the couch, checking over the datapad briefly.

“Was there something you needed? Or did you actually just come for a hug?” she asked him as she read over the monitor readings again.

“Just checkin up on you - everything alright?” he replied, still hanging a few feet from the doorway, waiting for an invitation.

Rimea nodded and motioned for him to come in, “I’m fine, thank you. Hot showers are far more therapeutic than we give them credit for.”

He took a few steps in and joined her on the couch, “Was it warm enough? Heating systems are wonky on this ship, can’t always get the temp you actually want.”

“It was lovely,” she reassured him quickly, and when silence descended upon them, she stood up and walked to the small caf maker next to the couch, “Can I get you anything? Tea? Caf? Biscuits?”

He barked out a laugh, “So long as the biscuits are actually cookies and not those rock-hard monstrosities Mum gave us when we came home from school.”

She chuckled at the memories of the awful chalky rectangular biscuits, and threw the package of chocolate wafers at her brother, “Those were disgusting and had barely any right to even consider themselves food.”

Raj tore into the package and immediately threw one into his mouth as Rimea returned to the couch with a hot cup of caf in her hands.

“Oh my gods,” he said with a mouthful, nearly unintelligible as he stuffed another one in, “These are amazing?? Where did you even get them?”

Rimea laughed and deftly stole one of them out of the package even as he coveted it, “There was a market in the Spire, and one of the stands made them locally. Lana told me I would blow my cover if I went there every single week to buy them, but I couldn’t help it.”

He tracked her movements as she delicately dipped the chocolate wafer into the caf, held it there for a few seconds, and then took a bite out of it. She could see the bulb light up in his head as he leaped for the caf and poured himself a mug before he crashed back down on the couch. It was hard not to laugh at his delight as he took another biscuit and dunked it haphazardly into the caf and then shoved it in his mouth.

“This is what paradise tastes like,” he declared, closing his eyes and licking the crumbs off his fingers.

Rimea just chuckled and took a sip of her own drink.

They sat quietly for another minute or so as they finished the box of chocolate biscuits and their mugs of caf. It was nice, just sitting here with him without any expectations of catching up or talking about what had happened in the last fifteen years. Maybe someday she’d be willing to talk about everything that had happened to her, but today was not that day. And that was okay.

She could see Raj start to fidget with his hands, though, as if _he_ had something he wanted to say.

“Raj?” she asked him hesitantly, preparing for the invasive questions everyone asked her.

But he didn’t.

“You, uh, you know Koth?”

Rimea furrowed her brows, “Koth Vortena? Captain of this ship? Your boyfriend?”

He nodded and laughed, “Yeah that was a stupid question… Of course you know Koth. Everyone does.”

“What are you asking, then, Raj?”

He inhaled deeply, “Do you like him?”

“As a person? I’m not sure I’ve actually had a proper conversation with him, to be honest. But he seems like a good man. His records would indicate such, and I’ve seen nothing to the contrary,” she replied, pausing, “Raj… are you asking me if I approve of your boyfriend? Because I hardly think I should have any say in that. But yes, I think he makes you happy and you make him happy. And that’s what matters, right?”

He chuckled a little, attempting to hide his blushing by reaching his arm behind his head and scratching at a nonexistent itch, “I think… I think I’m gonna ask him to marry me.”

\---

There was a crowd standing around the doorway of Miss Beniko’s personal quarters. It was an unusual sight, to be sure - normally such attention would result in a thrashing of some kind, usually verbal or electrical. But Lana was either not paying attention to the group outside her rooms, or she couldn’t sense them. And the latter was a preposterous notion.

“I’m sure Lord Beniko would not appreciate your gathering,” Senya announced as she approached them.

Koth barely even looked at her, keeping his ear pressed to the door, “She’s been pacing for the last two hours, muttering to herself. Lana, _muttering_!”

“Something’s wrong,” Raj concurred, “she had her door open an hour ago, and when she came to shut it, she didn’t even see us here.”

Senya raised one of her eyebrows, “And just how long have you been here?”

Tora shrugged, “I dunno, three hours? Maybe four? Lost track after awhile.”

“And you’ve just been… listening to her pace for the last four hours?”

“Pretty much,” Noghea replied in that singsong voice of hers.

Senya looked from one eavesdropper to another, head tilted and eyebrows furrowed, “Have none of you thought to go in and _talk_ to her?”

She was met with five blank stares.

Tora, as always, came back crude and brash, “Listen, if I wanted a good choking I’d go to my partner back home or to one of those Zeltron bars on Nar Shaddaa. Not looking for bruises and scars from Miss Lightning Eyes.”

Len visibly threw up in his mouth, and Koth sighed tiredly. Raj and Noghea just exchanged a knowing glance.

Senya shook her head, “As… colorful as you make it sound, surely she could be reasoned with. Lana is nothing if not pragmatic and logical.”

“Ain’t what we’ve been hearing out here,” Noghea replied, ear back to the door, “Been muttering and swearing up a storm in there. Maybe literally.”

“ _You_ could go in and talk to her, you know,” Koth suggested, “At least you have that Force nonsense too.”

“Oh, no no, I’m quite alright out here,” Senya replied quickly, putting her hands in front of her and taking a step back, “I have no desire to see her wrath in person.”

Tora pulled her head from the wall long enough to meet Senya’s eyes, “Could fight for it. Loser goes in.”

“Wasn’t the goal of this to _not_ get injured?” Raj chimed.

Tora retaliated by sticking her tongue out at him.

“Could always saber-blaster-choke for it,” Noghea said, still pressed to the door.

The three Zakuulans just stared at her.

She pulled her head off the door and studied their expressions, “What, you guys don’t play saber-blaster-choke on Zakuul?”

“What… the fuck… is saber-blaster-choke? Are these things we’re going to beat each other with? Because Senya’s the only one with saber and choke and that’s just not fair. And I left my pistol on the bridge,” Len replied, also coming to stand away from the door with Senya and Noghea.

The Mirialan smuggler just laughed loudly, “No, no, not like that at all. No violence, I swear. Raj, back me up on this!”

He shrugged and joined them, dragging Koth with him, “I don’t see why anyone has to go in to talk to her, but yeah. Saber-blaster-choke is definitely a thing. Definitely no actual sabers, blasters, or choking involved.”

Tora was the last to peel herself from Lana’s door, but jumped right in, “Alright! I’m in! How do we do this?”

Noghea pulled out a stick of gum and threw it in her mouth, “Alright, so there are three hand positions. For saber, you put your hands together like you’re holding a lightsaber, like this-” she demonstrated with her hands, putting her fists on top of each other, “for blaster, you gotta make finger guns with your thumb and forefinger. And for choke you gotta hold your thumb and forefinger out in a half-moon shape, pretending like you’re using the Force to choke some dumb bastard.”

The others mimicked the hand positions with varying amounts of intrigue, confusion, and frustration.

“Cool cool cool. So now, you gotta face a partner - your opponent, shall we say. On the count of three you both choose a hand signal. Ya look at what you both threw out and determine the winner. Saber beats blaster, for obvious reasons. Choke beats saber, cause that shit’s nasty. And blaster beats choke, ‘cause you can always shoot a guy in the foot if he’s choking ya. Alright? Easy enough? Whoever loses has to go in to talk down Lana.”

Senya shook her head, although she had to admit the childish whimsy of gambling with hand signals had a bizarre sense of appeal to her. Things she would never do as a Knight, but that she would have loved to have played with her children.

It took only a couple seconds for them all to circle up. Noghea counted to three and they all put out their hands. Those who won rejoiced and stepped back. Those who lost muttered their discontent and stayed. And they kept going until only Tora and Senya were left to battle out the final. Loser takes all.

The other four stood around them, hovering ridiculously closely. But Senya did have to smother a giggle at the whole thing.

“Alright on your marks,” Noghea announced, “One, two, three!”

Tora held out her hands in finger guns. Senya held hers out in choke.

“Ha! I win!” Tora exclaimed, bounding around, “You lose, _Grandma_!”

Senya sighed and shook her head, “Alright, alright, you win. I’ll talk to Lana. But you all have to leave. Give us some privacy, alright?”

“Oh, sure, sure,” Koth replied, poorly hiding a very satisfied smirk.

“I’ll come out and actually choke you all if you don’t,” she remarked evenly as she approached the door.

She wasn’t nervous to see Lana like this. She wasn’t scared or worried for her safety. But Lana was normally quite level-headed, and if she’d been pacing and muttering and Scyva-knows what else for the last day and a half, she must be particularly bothered by something. And Senya had a pretty good idea about what that was.

The door opened for her almost immediately.

Lana stood in the center of the room, dressed in workout gear, hands in fists down at her sides.

“They’re gone now,” the Sith stated, motioning outside as the door shut behind Senya.

“You could have made them leave at any point before this, you know. You wouldn’t have even had to say anything and they would have scuttled back to their workspaces.”

Lana nodded, “I know.”

Senya took a few more steps inside and sat at the table in the back corner of the room, with Lana not far behind her.

“Then why did you let them? Why put on the performance?”

She scowled, “I wasn’t wailing and weeping in their arms. It wasn’t a widow’s mourning.”

Senya nodded, “Of course not. You are not a widow. But my point remains, Lana: you could have easily shooed them off, sequestered yourself and shown no weakness to anyone. It’s what I would have done. It’s what you did when we met in the Old World all those years ago. Why let them in now?”

Lana shook her head, “They only see what I allow them to see. Anger, frustration, petulance, these are things I can control and emotions that have served me well. They give me strength and guide my hands.”

“But those aren’t the emotions you’re actually feeling,” Senya supplied for her, folding her hands properly on the table.

Lana breathed deeply and looked down at her lap, “No. They are not.”

“Being vulnerable and honest is not the same as being weak, Lana.”

She nodded, “I know. But I do not need anyone’s pity.”

Senya shook her head, but said nothing in reply. She was putting up the facade again, forcing petulance and frustration when there was really only fear and worry.

After a moment, Lana moved her hand to her pocket, pulling out the ring she’d planned on proposing with. The ring she’d showed Senya the first time they met. And she laid on the table a gold chain, two gold rings hanging from it.

“You escaped from Valkorion once, Senya,” she said quietly, slowly, gathering her thoughts before she proceeded, “I am unsure if Raelyn and I will ever have the same chance.”

Senya smiled a little sadly, reaching for the chain and rings and running her fingers over them. So much had been left unsaid between her and her husband and her children. She’d seen none of them in any real capacity since she’d escaped from the palace. She read the inscription on the rings and let out a sigh - The Immortal Emperor Reigns Eternal. They were the words of a narcissist and a tyrant, not the man she loved.

She took the chain and put it back in Lana’s hand, meeting her fierce golden eyes unwaveringly and holding the younger woman’s hands in hers, “The bond you and Raelyn share is beyond anything he can do to you. I did not share the same closeness with my children. Where he could take them from me, he will never be able to take her from you, dear Lana.”

\---

The black-violet streams still coursed through Raelyn’s wounds. It was nearly two days later, and Rimea had cleaned and stitched and wrapped her wounds, but still he insisted on interfering. A shiver ran down her back as she thought about him, worming through Raelyn’s head, attaching himself to her like a parasite. How much was Valkorion like the conditioning put on Rimea herself? He could keep her alive through extraordinary circumstances, but could he control her? Could he make her do his bidding?

She didn’t know.

She wasn’t sure she _wanted_ to know.

Raelyn groaned and twisted beside her, grabbing at the sheets with an uncomfortable grimace across her face. Rimea sighed tiredly and put her hand over her sister’s, squeezing gently.

“I’m sorry it’s come to this, Rae,” she said quietly, watching her sister still beneath her touch.

Unsurprisingly, Raelyn didn’t respond to her apology, leaving Rimea to the silence of the medbay and her own swirling thoughts.

As they so frequently did, her thoughts went back to Vector, Rippir, and Alila.

She missed her family. As happy as she was to be reunited with both Raj and Raelyn, neither of them were as comforting or comfortable as Vector and her two little ones. Stars, she hadn’t seen them in over a year, almost two. How much had they grown? How much had she missed of their lives? She’d sent them letters, but contact had been limited because of her undercover operation on Zakuul. And they’d hardly had time to breathe since they’d gotten Raelyn back.

She looked up at the digital chronometer on the wall, calculating the time on Odessen and how long it would take for them to reach it. Three days at most, assuming they weren’t knocked from hyperspace for some reason. Rimea prayed that wouldn’t happen.

Three days until she could embrace her family again. They’d always seemed so impossibly far, thinking about seeing them again was followed by a melancholic loneliness. But she felt a little glimmer of hope in her gut, that her wait was almost over. She thought about calling them now, at least seeing their faces via holo, but it was impossibly early Odessen time, and she couldn’t bring herself to arouse them from sleep. A letter would have to do for now. She pulled out her datapad and rested it on her lap, pulling her hand off Raelyn’s.

She swore she could feel Raelyn tensing as she did it. But nothing in her expression changed and she didn’t move otherwise.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she said aloud as she brought up her mail, “I’m still here.”

The deep violet streams shimmered in and out of focus in her periphery, but as soon as she turned her head to her sister, it went back as it was. Bizarre… And worrisome, no matter if what she saw was real or a hallucination. She felt pressure on her skull, like something was trying to pass through her, but she shook her head and tapped her forehead with her finger.

Either the migraine was taking a new form or something was up with Valkorion.

Rimea was blind to the Force, but she wasn’t an idiot. She’d dealt with crazy Sith before, and she’d seen the consequences first hand of letting them get their way - and also of opposing them directly.

She sighed in an attempt to expel the anxiety and fear settling in her bones, “It won’t work, Vitiate. Go back to healing my sister.”

The sensation didn’t dissipate, not even a touch. But she looked over to Raelyn again, who was reaching out for her. Rimea hesitated, but only for a moment before she took Raelyn’s hand again, the letter now abandoned in her lap.

“It’s alright, Rae,” she soothed, rubbing her thumb over her sister’s, “He can’t touch me.”

The room suddenly got cold, and fear gripped Rimea’s chest in a vice so hard she wasn’t sure she could breathe. But she couldn’t leave her sister. Not now, when she needed her most. And she knew that Valkorion would never succeed at getting in her head.

Not because of her blindness to the Force, and certainly not because of her proximity to Raelyn, or some misguided belief that he was too weak to do so.

“I didn’t _un_ -condition myself so much as _re_ -conditioned myself,” she explained quietly, answering an unspoken question as if Raelyn could hear her, “And I conditioned myself so that no one could get inside my head. Including the former Sith Emperor. Watcher X’s incorporeal form was involved, it’s sort of complicated… But I won’t be subjected to anyone’s whims but my own. He can scare me, but he can’t make me leave you.”

The pressure on her skull relaxed, leaving her with just the biting migraine to fight. Raelyn squeezed her hand and Rimea smiled. She manually turned up the temperature in the room with the thermometer on the wall beside her without taking her hand from Raelyn’s - thank the Force the medbay wasn’t a very large room.

“You can keep fighting me, Vitiate,” she declared under her breath, “but I’ll keep fighting you right back. You can’t scare me enough to keep me from fighting. Not anymore.”

The lights flickered and Raelyn inhaled sharply, the heart monitor speeding up as if she was actively fighting him, keeping him caged.

Rimea stood up without dropping Raelyn’s hand, looking over the monitors to make sure there wasn’t some sort of infection she might have missed earlier. She wasn’t a doctor, but Imperial Intelligence had her trained as a field medic, and that was enough. No infections, no additional damage. It was as if she was just working out, elevating her heart rate and internal temperature, but nothing particularly dangerous, even in the condition she was in.

She sat down beside her sister again and brought her hand to her mouth, breathing silent prayers that this was a fight Raelyn would win.

“Don’t let him beat you, Rae,” she whispered into her hand.

“ _I won’t_ ,” came the almost inaudible reply.

\---

There was laughter coming from the medbay - an odd thing considering all that had transpired there in the last two days. But it was unmistakably joyful, all but bursting from the small space as Senya paused in front of the door.

Inside were the three Politryks: Raelyn sitting up in the bed with a hand to her wrapped stomach, Raj sitting at the foot of the bed with his feet up by his sister’s hips, Rimea perched elegantly on the side of the cot with her hand on Raelyn’s shoulder.

And then there was Lana. She sat on a stool opposite Rimea, her left hand intertwined with Raelyn’s right, her right hand in her lap comfortably. For the first time in days, months, or maybe even years, she was smiling unabashedly.

Raj said something else and an uproarious round of laughter went through the whole room, sending what could only be described as a series of tiny little shocks through Senya’s gut. It was warm and comforting to hear their love and their joy. But she also felt pain, regret, and even jealousy knowing that there was very little chance her own children would be afforded the same future, if they even lived long enough to make it that far.

Koth’s voice over the intercomm interrupted her melancholic thoughts, however, as he announced, “Alrighty folks! We’re coming up on Odessen now, it’ll be about an hour before we land. So now’s your chance to finish your packing!”

Senya allowed herself a small, sad smile as she looked into the medbay a final time. The four of them didn’t even seem to have heard the announcement, so engrossed were they in their own bliss.

All she could see in her mind was Vaylin’s face on Nathema, the last time she’d seen her in person. And her heart broke all over again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I deeply apologize for the fact that it's been three months since I actually posted. Hopefully, I'm back into the right routine to get regular writing done, though! Thanks for sticking with me, everyone! <3


	6. Taking Flights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mild warnings for descriptions of pain consistent with being stabbed through the gut with a lightsaber. *thumbs up emoji* Also for depictions of PTSD.

Felix rolled over with a soft grunt, pulling his arm out from under Kalina’s head.

“Mmm?” she hummed, reaching out for his hand as he sat up on the edge of the bed.

He rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb affectionately, “Just got a headache, love.”

She opened her eyes in the darkness, the dim floor lights casting a shadow over his silhouette. He had his other hand to his head, elbow resting on his thigh.

“Everything alright?” she asked, looking over at the chronometer next to him, the faint green numbers reading 0317.

He squeezed her hand, “I’m fine, just gonna grab a couple tablets for it. Nothing to worry about, go back to sleep.”

Reluctantly, she let go of him as he pushed himself off the bed and made his way to the refresher. The light flickered on in the small room and he grunted again as he opened the medicine cabinet and fumbled around for the right bottle. Kalina put her head back down on the pillow and took a deep breath as she listened to him turn on the faucet and then turn it off again.

It was unusual for Felix to feel like he needed to take medication for something. But he was running around with everyone else as they prepared for the Gravestone to land, so there had been a few long days lately. And he did have that Sith holocron in his head that gave him trouble from time to time. Kalina wasn’t feeling a hundred percent either, if she was being honest.

Just as Felix slid back into bed and she curled up beside him, however, her holocomm pinged.

“Figures,” Felix chuckled.

She kissed him on the forehead as she reached over to the bedside table and answered the call.

A familiar Sith lord appeared before her, hands clasped behind her back, “Apologies for waking you, Barsen’thor, I know how early it is on Odessen.”

“Lana,” Kalina replied with a yawn, “Is everything still on schedule?”

She nodded, “It is. We’ll be landing in half an hour.”

“And Raelyn?”

Lana paused, but nodded again, “Alive and awake, though I’ve already called Maraalor to have him prepare for the extent of her injuries.”

Kalina nodded, felt butterflies in her stomach, “Excellent. We’ll certainly take what we can get at this point.”

“That we will, Commander,” she replied with a hint of a smirk on her face.

Felix snorted from behind her, and Kalina flicked her wrist to throw a pillow at him.

“I’ll make sure I’m there when you all arrive,” she said demurely, “Thank you for letting me know.”

Lana nodded, “I’ll see you soon then. We have much to discuss.”

“One thing at a time, Lana,” she said gently, “let’s get you all home first.”

“Indeed, though there have been a few developments that are worrying.”

Kalina put her hand up, “We’ll get there when we get there. For now, just focus on finishing your journey safely. I’ll see you soon, Lana.”

Another nod from the blonde Sith and her form dissipated. Felix wrapped his arms around his wife and sighed against her back, pulling himself closer to her.

“You can stay here if you’d like,” she offered quietly, twisting and pressing a kiss to his head.

He sat up and shook his head slowly, “Nah, I’ll come. I’m up anyway. Besides, haven’t been able to have you on my arm in a week. That staff of yours deserves a break.”

\---

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Raelyn gasped, one hand firmly pressed against her stomach, the other clamped around Lana’s shoulder, “I got this.”

Rimea applied a bacta patch to her exposed arm with a sigh, “Raelyn, we can just get you a hoverbed, you’re going to injure yourself this way.”

She shook her head firmly, “Abso-fucking-lutely not. I am not going to look so weak that I cannot stand on my own feet.”

“It’s three in the morning, Rae, hardly anyone will even be awake. Besides, they’re your _friends_. They all know exactly what you’re capable of.”

“They knew what I was capable of _five years ago_. For all they know, I might be an invalid forever now.”

Rimea just looked to Lana, who shook her head, “I’ll take her, Rimea. Let Maraalor berate her later, but for now, allow a Sith Lord her pride. She’s healed enough that this shouldn’t hurt much.”

There was a creak and a bump as the Gravestone touched down, Raj’s voice filtering through the intercom again.

“Alright folks! This is Odessen! Local time is three fifty in the morning, so we can all get a break before work starts again. Well, some of us have reports to write up, but the rest of you can sleep or get a drink or whatever your heart desires… within reason.”

Raelyn took one last slow, deep breath and met Lana’s golden eyes with her emerald ones. Every movement of her torso burned like fire in her veins, but she could do this. She’d been through worse. There was more than once where she’d had to lean on Vette the whole way back to the ship - at least Lana was softer and closer in height, and the journey wasn’t going to be too long. Force knows Maraalor had probably already elbowed his way onto the ship ready to just levitate her back to his office.

“Ready?” Lana asked, wrapping her arm around Raelyn’s back and preparing to take her whole weight.

She leaned over and kissed her, “I love you so fucking much.”

Her cheeks went bright pink before she snorted, “You are insufferable.”

Raelyn just grinned and kissed her again. Valkorion was too busy botching up his healing job on her stab wound to make a snarky reply and she had never been happier to have been stabbed through the gut.

She was significantly less happy with this situation as soon as she and Lana got out of the medbay, and she had to walk through the winding and nonsensical hallways of the Gravestone to its exit. Fortunately, most folks seemed to have already disembarked, the promises of solid ground and local whiskey having piqued their interests immediately.

The only voices she still heard were those of her brother and his partner, bickering playfully about who had to wake Jinnia.

But no sooner had their voices faded into the bowels of the ship than she was hit with a cool breeze from the planet before her. She stopped for a moment before she set foot on it, taking in everything around her. Lana, as patient as ever, just stood beside her, waiting for her to be ready again before they continued.

The sky was beautiful. Inky black speckled with dots of white and gold and orange stars. Odessen had no moon, no cities, its only civilization being the very complex they faced, carved into the cliffside. She looked off to the side, most of the dense Odessen forest now shrouded in darkness, but she could make out the shadows of tree lines and valleys and lakes. Raelyn had never felt quite as at ease in the wilderness as Kalina had, but it was hard not to be taken in by the raw and undisturbed beauty of this place.

And the Alliance complex was dimly lit by lights on the walkways and from what spilled out of the cantina, but it had a sleek simplicity to it that pulled her in. There were no towers of Kaas City, no temples of Korriban, no sprawling cities of Ziost, nothing at all like the worlds she’d come from. Nothing at all like the planets Valkorion had shown her in her dreams. Broken, empty, lifeless worlds he’d conquered and destroyed.

Odessen, even in the dead of the night, was full of life. In the darkness she could hear the music from the cantina, the chirping of insects, the gurgles of rivers and waterfalls. Winds whistled over the complex and through the forest. Beasts prowled and hunted, howled at the sky.

She hadn’t even set foot on Odessen yet and she was infatuated by it.

Finally she looked back towards the building and took in the scene before her. Kalina was on Felix’s arm, both of them fully dressed though not in anything more than loungewear. She leaned against him and kissed his cheek as he put a hand to his face to stifle a yawn.

Maraalor had his head bent over a datapad, purple and white lekku coiled around his neck, dressed in his formal white scrubs. He looked even more strung out than she remembered. Theron was barefoot beside him in pajamas bottoms, a loose white tee shirt, and his usual red leather jacket. Somehow Raelyn doubted he’d go anywhere without that damn jacket. Neither of them seemed to notice her in the doorway of the Gravestone, which was just fine.

Rimea had leapt into the arms of her husband, her joy and relief audible from where they stood. Vector was practically vibrating he was so happy, and Rimea had her arms tightly around his neck, looking like she had no intention whatsoever of letting go. A rock of guilt dropped in Raelyn’s gut as she watched them - she’d read Lana’s reports, known that Rimea had gone undercover for more than two years on Zakuul, but she hadn’t thought much of what a sacrifice that had been until now. Until she saw the two of them reunited. Perhaps she’d not been the one to order Rimea to Zakuul, but she was still the reason her sister had left her family for so long.

Finally, and perhaps most surprisingly, there was Thexan Tirall. Arcann’s twin, standing in the flesh with the Alliance. Senya was in tears before him, both of them holding each other’s hands and smiling and sobbing too hard to even get words out. Raelyn wondered if Arcann was even capable of that much emotion at once if it wasn’t anger. Perhaps the twins of Zakuul weren’t so alike after all.

“ _Fuck!_ Raelyn, what the hell are you doing!? Lana, why are you letting her do this!? Did you two even read the reports I sent!?” Maraalor jumped up and dashed over, Theron trailing tiredly behind him. The Togruta immediately put his hand to Raelyn’s forehead, not even paying attention if either Sith had offered a response.

“It’s good to see you, Theron,” she said instead.

He nodded, clearly having been dragged out of bed moments before, “Yeah, yeah. Good to see you, too. Been awhile.”

Kalina and Felix followed them, and she took no time at all in embracing her tightly.

“Welcome back,” the Jedi greeted, smiling from ear to ear.

Raelyn couldn’t help but smile in return, “It is good to see you, Kalina. And you, as well, Felix.”

Felix opened his mouth to reply, but Maraalor jumped again, “ _Fucking ancestors!_ Who the fuck did this!? Which one of you decided to practice your shitty healing skills on her?”

Raelyn winced and bit her tongue.

Fortunately, Lana replied evenly, her tone betraying none of the rage and fear she’d most certainly felt during the time Raelyn had been unconscious, “It’s Valkorion. But I’d rather not talk about it here.”

Kalina’s relieved grin morphed into a concerned grimace as she bit the inside of her lip, but she didn’t say anything. Felix put his other hand on her forearm and closed his eyes, looking as if this was something they’d expected already.

Theron pulled out a datapad and started pressing all the buttons, but Raelyn didn’t even think it was turned on.

Maraalor just blew harshly out his nose and cracked his knuckles, “Alright, well, I’ve already got a room prepped for you, so let’s not keep you on your feet any longer than we have to.”

Kalina squeezed her forearm one last time, “I’ll see you in the morning, my friend. We have a lot to catch up on.”

Raelyn smiled tiredly, “I look forward to it.”

\---

The beds on Odessen were absolutely far more comfortable than the ones on the Gravestone. Raj had never been more thankful for actual feather pillows and soft blankets before in his life. Of course, snuggling with Koth and Jinnia probably had a fair amount to do with it. The bed in their suite was far larger than the one in the captain’s quarters on the Gravestone, which meant they could curl up together _and_ they could breathe! What a marvelous concept.

And even as Jinnia pulled him out of the bed far too early for the second day in a row, he wasn’t even mad because the caf was set to automatically brew and their rooms smelled _delightful_. Of course, six year olds don’t generally count caf as breakfast, so he was dragged down to the cantina anyway. But as he looked back to the bedroom and saw Koth sprawled among the blankets, sleeping peacefully, Raj really thought life couldn’t get much better than this.

As soon as they sat down at a table - Jinnia with a bowl of a sugary rainbow cereal, and Raj with a fruity pastry - his comm pinged with a text message. He very pointedly ignored it and took a bite of his breakfast. Oh to eat real, freshly prepared food again. There hadn’t been a chef in their crew on the Gravestone, and before that he’d basically been living off ration bars and food from random skeevy dives from the planets they visited, never daring to go someplace nicer for fear of being recognized. But this. This pastry was a welcome guest in his mouth and stomach.

Jinnia devoured her cereal in about a minute flat, leaving the milk in the bottom of the bowl.

“You’re not gonna drink that?” Raj asked, licking crumbs off his fingers.

She looked up at him quizzically but without actually saying anything.

He motioned at the bowl again, “The milk! It’s the best part! It’s all sugary and tastes real good.”

She poked at it with her spoon, dubiously slurping the small amount of milk she pulled out, looking at Raj the whole time.

He laughed and shook his head, standing up so her could wrap himself around her from behind, “It’s no fun that way, kiddo! You gotta lift the bowl up with your hands, see?” He guided her hands to the bowl and lifted it to her mouth, “Then you gotta drink out of it like a really wide cup, yeah?”

Jinnia took a hesitant sip at first, but clearly delighted in the sugary cereal milk as she drained the bowl almost instantly, only a little dribble of milk running down her chin. Raj laughed again and wiped it off with his thumb before he went back to his seat beside her.

“See? It’s the best part, I told you it was,” he said with a wink, gently poking her side and sending her into an early morning giggle fit.

“Well, well, well, I see someone’s a morning person,” came a vaguely familiar lilt as someone sat opposite them at the table.

“Don’t be an ass, Uncle,” another just as vaguely familiar voice wafted just behind.

Jinnia immediately froze and clung to Raj’s side, hiding her face in his shirt. As he looked up to see who had greeted them, though, Theron Shan came and joined them, holding a datapad and a mug of caf rather than a tray of food.

“Raj, I presume you’ve already met Geralt Abelli and Evie Che? That’s what they say, anyway,” he said slowly, between sips of caf.

Raj looked them over properly, the lanky Mirialan man and the short human girl, an odd pair if he ever saw one. Which was exactly the same thought he had the first time he met them all that time ago on Arrun Prime.

“You’re the ones who took my ship?” he asked, wrapping one of his arms around Jinnia tightly.

Geralt blew out of his mouth, “Oh, poff. We might’ve bartered that sweet little J-type skiff for an XS Freighter, but I don’t believe for a second that that Gravestone out there is anyone’s but yours. Hardly seems worth all the trouble of coming out now, doesn’t it, Eev?”

Evie just shrugged, mouth stuffed with food, “Zhun bo, seems pretty good to me, lah. Food’s better than yours.”

The Mirialan stuck his tongue out at her, “My cooking is _delightful_ , thank you. It’s not my fault you can’t truly enjoy the work of a master.”

“Don’t think that cheese sandwich was _the work of a master_ , Uncle.”

Theron cleared his throat, clearly already exhausted by their antics, “Anyway, they’ve brought you something, Raj. Thought you might want to see it as soon as they got here, but you ignored my ping and they were… well, they were them.”

He looked across the table from Geralt to Evie to Theron and back, suspicious but also weirdly excited.

“Brought me something?”

“Aiyo, yeah! Course we did, don’t act blur!”

Theron stood up and pocketed his datapad, “Probably better if we just show you.”

The two hooligans quickly jumped from their seats after him, laughing all the way. Raj was a bit more hesitant, but took Jinnia by the hand and looked in her eyes.

“Do you want to come see? Or do you want me to drop you off with Koth first?” he asked her earnestly.

She nodded, voice nearly lost in the morning din of the cantina, “I’ll come.”

“Up on my shoulders?”

She nodded again, smiling.

Raj picked her up and placed her gently on his shoulders, keeping his hands on her legs as he followed the trio out of the cantina.

Almost immediately he spotted it. Out in the field, sandwiched between two other fighters, there stood his beautiful XS Freighter. Shiny and clean, without a dent or a scratch on her. She sparkled in the early morning sun, and Geralt just leaned against one of the legs with a shit-eating grin all over his face.

“It’s a real bargain, this one,” he said, patting the leg he was leaning on, “She’s all yours for the low low price of a single kiss, right on the lips.”

Raj looked at him, completely unable to tell if he was serious or not.

“Geralt!” Evie yelled, hurling a rock at his head.

“Ow!” he returned, “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. She’s all yours, no kiss needed. Unless you want to, of course. I wouldn’t say no to a handsome boy like you.”

Raj ignored him and ran his hand over the belly of the ship, watching Jinnia do the same.

“Wow… You put her all back together,” he commented quietly, “And you’re giving her back? Just like that?”

Geralt shrugged, “She was impossible to sell. Eev and I also thought we’d try our hands at illegitimate government now that we’re so competent at illegitimate business, so we signed up for this whole Alliance thing. Thought this would at least make a good deposit towards our intentions.”

He looked up at the ship again, definitely not hiding the tears that threatened in his eyes, “Thank you.”

\---

It was one thing to be doted on when she was barely awake and in more pain than she could fathom. It was quite another to have Maraalor buzzing around the medical suite like some sort of hyperactive gnat for six days, insistent that she follow his regimen of dull food, terrible medicine, and painful exercise. It was like he never even slept! Just kept fluttering around, datapad in his hands, making notes and typing while he clucked his tongue.

In short, he was Maraalor. And he was _exhausting_.

Not even Rimea had taken pity on her, calmly insisting that she just needed to be patient, just until she was well enough and strong enough to get around on her own.

She was damn strong enough now.

Don’t get her wrong, she was infinitely grateful for his help and his healing. He really was one hell of a doctor, and had even managed to shut up Valkorion with his insults. That alone was worth thanking him for. But he was so damn _fussy_. _All the time_.

Raelyn opened her eyes as she heard him step out of the room - five minutes and forty-three seconds. She had five minutes and forty-three seconds until he returned from his other rounds. Which meant she had that long to make a break for it.

As soon as Maraalor’s footsteps were out of earshot, she rolled herself to a sitting position at the edge of the bed, feeling every movement twisting and pulling at her injured gut. She grimaced and put a hand to it, but didn’t let the pain stop her. Of course, nearly toppling over when she tried to stand up stopped her briefly, but as soon as the spots cleared from her vision and she had her feet squarely beneath her, she shuffled to the doorway, poking her head out into the dimmed interior of the hospital to make sure there were no surprise guards that Maraalor had set up while she was asleep. There weren’t any.

So far so good.

There was a faint twinge from inside her head - Valkorion warning her to not move too quickly, probably. Well fuck that guy.

She took a step out into the hallway and tried not to double over, keeping one hand on her stomach and pressing the other against the wall to hold her up. Gods, it was freezing out here. She shivered, but planted another foot in front of her, mentally retracing the steps she’d memorized to get to her and Lana’s room. Down the hall to the elevator, down eight floors to the personal and family units, first suite on the left. Kalina had given her a knowing grin as she’d instructed her and laid out the blueprints to the base on her lap.

She could do this. Just had to hope no one would want to get into the elevator with her.

It pinged quietly and opened its doors to her, the bright light inside nearly blinding her for about ten seconds before she could key in the correct floor. An agonizing fifteen seconds later, the doors shut and the pod moved downward. Raelyn closed her eyes and took a few slow breaths, trying to hold back the nausea and the dizziness.

About halfway down, the elevator stopped. Raelyn’s heart was in her chest as the door opened and a Nautolan meandered in, pressing palms to her eyes and yawning. She keyed in another floor without a second thought, and didn’t even seem to acknowledge the Leader of the Alliance standing right beside her, desperately trying not to hurl. Raelyn tried to keep her breaths as silent as she could, pressing her back to the wall of the pod and hoping she actually was invisible.

But the Nautolan never even opened her eyes, and two floors down, got out without a word or a glance.

Raelyn breathed a sigh of relief as the doors shut again. This was a horrible plan. Maraalor was probably searching the whole base right this second trying to track her down. She was probably going to pass out on this fucking elevator. Fuck this, and fuck Valkorion in particular. That bastard.

_Should have just let her die._

The elevator pinged again and opened at her destination, and she groaned as she stepped outside it. Her stomach throbbed, her head pounded, her legs were protesting with every step. But she was so fucking close.

She rounded the last corner into the hallway of Alliance Commander suites. Kalina and Felix were directly across the hall, Rimea and her family were beside hers, Raj and Koth were further down the hall. There were a few others, as well, but her brain was not functioning nearly enough to remember who they were.

Raelyn stopped in front of her own apartment - she’d not actually been inside it yet, having been quarantined to the hospital since her arrival. Leaning against the door, she took a deep breath and knocked.

“Give me a moment,” came the tired and muffled voice of Lana. Raelyn smiled and dropped her head against the door, too.

There was shuffling from inside, no doubt as Lana prepared herself for some impromptu meeting. And when the door slid out from her as it opened, Raelyn all but collapsed in her partner’s arms.

“ _Force, Raelyn_ ,” Lana cried, catching her in her arms and taking her inside, “How did you escape Maraalor?”

She chuckled, “A lot of planning and a little bit of dumb luck.”

Lana sat her down on the couch and wrapped her arm around behind her, letting Raelyn take her other hand, “You could have just asked, you know. He probably would have let you stay down here.”

She shrugged and rested her head against Lana’s shoulder, “Maybe, but where’s the adventure in that?”

Lana intertwined their fingers together and pulled her closer, “Are you alright?”

Raelyn nodded, “As alright as I can be. I’ve still got half a hole in my gut, you know. So that’s not great.”

Lana laughed quietly and pressed a kiss to her forehead, letting a quiet moment pass before she murmured, “I did miss you. If you can believe it, I was actually sitting here pondering if I should go convince Maraalor myself to let you stay here instead.”

Raelyn curled up and snuggled into her, “I love you.”

“I love you, too, darling. But next time, maybe tell me? If for no other reason other than so I can prepare for you to collapse on our doorstep.”

“Mmm, I’ll think about it.”

\---

“Morning, Captain.”

Koth rolled over and pulled the sheet with him, “It’s too early for this.”

“Too early for what?” Raj replied mischievously, pressing kisses up his arm and over his shoulder.

But he shivered and tensed without a word.

Raj pulled back, sitting up and putting a hand on Koth’s hip softly, “What’s wrong? Bad night?”

Koth just nodded and curled up in himself, moving a hand to touch Raj’s.

He leaned down and kissed his cheek softly, “Anything I can do?”

“Couple more hours to actual sleep might be nice,” came the muffled reply.

“Papa? Daddy? I’m hungry,” Jinnia’s voice wafted in from outside their room.

Koth whined quietly, shoving his head under the sheet.

“I’ll get breakfast with her,” Raj reassured, squeezing his hand through the sheet, “Get some sleep, love. You want anything while I’m out?”

“The good caf?”

Raj smiled even knowing Koth couldn’t see it, “Aye, aye, Captain. One good hot cantina caf, coming right up.”

He pressed a final kiss to Koth’s sheet-covered head and rolled off the bed, picking up a pair of sweatpants off the floor and throwing them on. His old Frogdogs shirt hung over the back of the chair, and he shoved his head through it as he opened the door.

Jinnia was wrapped in her blanket, little brown toes peeking out from underneath.

“Ah, good morning, Your Highness!” Raj greeted with a dramatic bow, sliding the door shut behind him.

Jinnia giggled, then looked around behind Raj, “Where’s Papa?”

He took her hand and let her lead them out of the apartment, “He’s gonna sleep for a little longer, kiddo. He’ll be up when we get back.”

She nodded, “Okey dokey.”

Raj leaned down and kissed her head, “So, do you think today should be the day?”

Jinnia looked up at him, brown eyes sparkling. She nodded.

“Are you and Rippir ready?”

Jinnia nodded again. She’d made fast friends with Rimea’s oldest, which was a surprise given she’d hidden from literally every other person on the Gravestone. But then again, Rippir had already taken to enthusiastically loving every person he met, and it was hard not to love him in return. Even timid Jinnia liked being around him - and Raj had been sure to ask. A lot.

He knelt down in the hallway as they waited for the elevator, pulling a little box out of his pocket. He opened it and showed her the engraved silver ring, covered in swirls and Zakuulan calligraphy. Raj had agonized over the designs for weeks, had sketched and re-sketched them endless times. His hands were shaking when he passed his sketches on to Rimea, who passed them on to Raina Temple, who had taken up jewelry-making during a long undercover op. He’d just gotten the final result yesterday.

“Think he’ll like it?” he asked.

Her eyes lit up when she saw it, hesitating before rubbing its edges with her finger, and then nodded vigorously again, “It’s pretty.”

He chuckled and shoved the box back in his pocket as the elevator pinged and the door opened.

Maraalor was on the other side, huffing and wheezing, “Politryk! Where the-”

He looked down at Jinnia and forcibly shut his mouth.

“Raelyn sneak off again?”

“She keeps doing it! I swear, Lana is in on it,” he muttered, rounding the corner.

Raj could feel the panic in Jinnia and rubbed the back of her small hand with his thumb, “That’s just Maraalor, kiddo. He’s alright. He’s actually really nice most of the time.”

Jinnia nodded a little, eyes still open wide.

It wasn’t until the two of them sat down in a quiet corner of the cantina that she settled down again. She unwrapped a sticky bun methodically, licking her fingers clean before she went back in for another bite.

“Daddy?” she asked after she finished.

“What’s up, Jinnia? You want another one?”

She shook her head, and looked down at the table, “Why is Papa sad?”

Raj exhaled. He’d figured they’d need to have this conversation at some point - it wasn’t exactly easy to hide that Koth struggled some days, especially in the morning. And they hadn’t wanted to hide her from it, either.

He reached across the table and laid out his hands flat, palms up. Jinnia put hers on top of his. Gods, they were so small. She was so small.

“You know how sometimes you have nightmares when you sleep? About dragons or monsters?”

She nodded.

“They don’t feel good, right?”

She shook her head.

“And sometimes you remember little bits and pieces during the day and they make your heart race again? Even if you can’t remember the whole thing?”

She nodded.

“That’s basically what Papa lives through all the time. But his nightmares aren’t just nightmares. They’re memories of bad things he’s seen or heard or done. Things that make him sad and scared.”

She looked up at him for the first time in the conversation, “How do we help him be happy?”

Raj smiled at her, “Just keep being you, kiddo. You make him happy. But sometimes Papa is gonna have days where he can’t be happy no matter what we do and it’s not your fault, okay? It doesn’t mean he doesn’t love you, it just means that we need to be gentle and take care of him, okay?”

Jinnia scrunched her face, “Can I draw him something?”

He laughed, “Sure thing. Why don’t we head back and get your datapad so you can do that?”

“Okay!” she declared, hopping off the bench and taking her blanket in her hand, dragging it behind her.

Raj grinned, “Why don’t I carry that for you, Jin? So it doesn’t get all dirty.”

With a blanket in one hand and Jinnia holding the other, they waded through the cantina.

“Wait!” Raj cried with a start, “I told Papa I’d bring him a cup of caf - do you want to come in line with me or stay here?”

She didn’t hesitate, “I’ll come.”

Rearmed with a cup of hot caf in one hand, Jinnia holding the other, and her blanket draped over his shoulders, Raj again waded through the growing crowd entering the cantina. The nice thing about having a small child who woke up early was that they usually beat the late-risers to breakfast.

Maraalor waved with a grin when they passed by, giving Jinnia a high-five - seemed all the Togruta needed was food.

And when they entered their little family apartment again, the door to Koth and Raj’s room was still shut. Hmm.

Raj looked at it briefly - and saw Jinnia’s glance towards it, too - and quickly opened the drawer which held their electronic devices. He grabbed Jinnia’s datapad and handed it to her.

“Go to town, my dude,” he said, pressing a kiss to her head as she sat at the table, already hard at work with a furrow in her brows.

He put the cup of caf on the table and grabbed his own datapad and answered a few messages. Mostly about the Gravestone and its capabilities and software, but a couple from Hylo about Underworld contacts he might have. He looked up from time to time to make sure Jinnia was okay, but she was just drawing away happily.

He sent a note to Rimea, asking if he could borrow Rippir this evening and if she could take Jinnia tonight. He went over his notes, made sure he had everything set up down at the Gravestone. He reread what he planned to say.

Half an hour later, Jinnia pushed the datapad to him, “All done!”

“All done?” he echoed, “What did you create, Your Highness?”

“It’s us!” she giggled, pointing to each figure, “See, that’s me with the flower, and then you and Papa holding hands! And a smiley star in the corner because she needed to be happy, too.”

“It’s beautiful!” Raj exclaimed, “Do you want to show it to Papa?”

She nodded vigorously.

“Okay, but I need you to get dressed first. I’ll meet you back out here in ten minutes, okay?”

She frowned for a second, but then flew off to her room in a whirlwind.

Raj stood and knocked on the door before he went in.

“Morning,” he greeted again, this time with hot caf in hand. Thermal mugs were a beautiful thing.

Koth rolled over with his arm over his face and grumbled, “Caf?”

“Just how you like it,” Raj noted, climbing up on the bed with him and handing over the cup, “Feeling better?”

Koth nodded, “A bit, yeah. We don’t have any meetings today, do we?”

Raj shook his head, “Nope. Nothing until date night.”

“You just made that up.”

“I sure did, but it’s happening. You, me, some quality alone time on our favorite ship. Got it all set up with Rimea so she’ll take Jinnia for the night.”

Koth leaned over and kissed his cheek, “I love you.”

“Love you, too, babe.”

“Papa!” just as she’d left, Jinnia came whirling into the bedroom, crashing into Koth with a hug, “Papa, I made you something!”

“You did, did you?” he asked, giving Raj a side-eye as he took her datapad. Raj just smiled innocently.

Jinnia looked up at him with her big brown eyes, waiting expectantly as he looked it over.

He looked it over for a long time, bringing a palm to his eye to rub it, “Wow, Jinnia. This is really nice. Thank you, my little dragon.” He reached down and hugged her tight, “Do you want to put it on the fridge?”

She nodded, and Koth typed in the code so it would project on their personal refrigerator unit.

Eight hours later, Raj’s heart was in his throat, about ready to eject from his body entirely. He’d insisted that both he and Koth dress in formal wear for their date, but he was now regretting that decision as he fidgeted with his tie.

“You really went all out for this, huh?” Koth asked from beside him as the two of them entered the Gravestone.

Raj flashed a toothy smile and hoped his nerves wouldn’t blow his cover. He only had to hold it together for twenty more minutes.

Koth busted out laughing when he saw the flower-petal-lined pathway for them to follow, planting a kiss on Raj’s lips and taking his hand joyfully.

“When did you even do all this?”

Raj shrugged, “Last night? After you went to sleep?”

He kissed him again when they got to their quarters and there was a little round table set up with candlelight, draped in a pale blue tablecloth, two glasses and a bottle of Alderaanian wine set out. C2-N2 stood in a corner with a little bowtie tied around his neck, powered down for the moment. Raj still wasn’t sure if calling in the droid to be a waiter was a good call, but C2 had insisted.

“Wow, you did all this? For a date night?” Koth let go of his hand and traced over the fancy plates and the embroidered tablecloth with his fingers.

Raj fumbled around in his pockets for the box with the ring, panicking only a little bit when he realized it wasn’t there. Something hit his shoe quietly - he bent down and looked first at the little box and then from the closet it had come from. Jinnia gave him a silent thumbs up and shut the door again.

Koth turned around and his eyes widened, “Raj…”

“You know, I meant to do this later in the evening,” he said, realizing just what this looked like, “But uh, well, now that we’re here. In this… position. I love you so fu- so so much, Koth. For the last three years our lives have been a crazy whirlwind and it doesn’t look like it’s ever going to slow down. But I want to live the rest of my days with you. Your light and your love and your passion make the galaxy a better place and I love you for it. Maybe I’m selfish, but I want to love you forever.”

Koth was crying now, with his hands to his face, half bending down to the floor.

“Oh gods, I hope that’s a happy cry and not a ‘I have to figure out how to let him down gently’ cry.”

He laughed through a sob and shook his head.

Raj pushed himself up and kissed him, “Koth Vortena, will you marry me?”

Koth nodded and threw his arms around Raj in a tight embrace, “Course I’ll marry you.”

Without any further ado, two little gremlins popped out of the closet with baskets of flower petals, shrieking happily and throwing them in the air like confetti. Koth noticeably tensed and dug his fingers into Raj’s back, but once he realized it was Jinnia and Rippir, he relaxed and started to laugh with the rest of them.

Oh, to hear his laugh for their rest of their days. The galaxy could fall apart tomorrow, and it wouldn’t take away the joy of this moment.

\---

_The galaxy burned._

_Planets devoured, devoid of all life - devoted zealots, divine rulers, divested peoples, all destroyed. Destroyed on his whim._

_Fires burned with no one to put them out. Winds raged against empty plateaus. Ash and dust swirled in the air as they did on Ziost, but this time on every world she had ever known. No life remained. Everything fed his power._

_Power for power’s sake._

_She looked around her, surrounded by the void no matter where she turned. It was worse than any battlefield, to be surrounded by nothing at all. Nothing told her that there was ever life here at all. But she knew this place, she knew it instinctively as a place she had been to before, one filled with light and a vibrant people._

_Now there was only ash._

_Ash and stone. Dust and clay._

_The final time she turned, he stood behind her. Hands at his sides, a warped grin plastered to his face. Words came from him, though his mouth made no movement._

_“I am not your enemy.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for your patience on this, folks! I appreciate all of you!  
> As always, the smarmy Geralt Abelli belongs to angelicfangirl, and the mischievous Evie Che belongs to Defira!! Thank you both!


	7. The Alliance

“I’ll bet you’d like to abandon ship right about now, wouldn’t you?” Messalina purred, magenta lightsaber scraping the floor behind her as she stalked around her prey, “But poor little GEMINI can’t disobey a direct order, can she?”

“Please… I cannot,” the droid replied, still suspended in the cockpit.

There was an awful lot of fear radiating from the metal machine, the visual readout sockets almost shimmering as if with tears. Messalina licked her lips. Fear was delicious no matter what felt it.

Her commlink beeped.

“Hey, Lina, I got readouts of more Fleet ships headed this way, you almost done?”

She made a disgusted noise and then brought the comm closer to her face, “I’ll be there momentarily, Nikos. Don’t leave without me.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

The comm clicked off and she looked back at the GEMINI droid with a pout, “I _hate_ when my fun gets cut short. Ah well. At least I still get to see you fry.”

She thrust one of her double blades forward, cracking and breaking the glass protecting the ship’s droid captain. It was quick work to pull out the droid with the Force and dismember it. She stepped over the broken glass into the droid’s protective bubble, and shoved her lightsaber into the socket in the wall, generating any number of loud alarm blares.

“Warning,” the automated voice responded, “Self-destruct sequence initiated.”

Messalina sighed contentedly when she looked at the metal carcass scattered across the floor around her. Another day’s work in the books.

“Nikos, ready the shuttle,” she announced, “I’m on my way back now.”

She expected the voice of her husband to reply, but when instead it was the voice of one of his Lieutenants, “Nox, we could use you on platform nine, think you can make a quick detour on your way back?”

She grinned, “Anything for you, Bones.”

There was blaster fire in the background and Bones just grunted a reply before it cut off. Messalina grinned, kicking at the head of the broken GEMINI droid before skipping out into the hallway.

So far, she and her fleet of pirates had destroyed thirteen Eternal Fleet ships. They’d taken their time, picking out lone cruisers that were patrolling far sectors of the galaxy. Routes came courtesy of Frederci and Herci Beta, the husband and wife duo who were former Exarchs but defected nearly a year ago. Messalina made a note to thank them again when they returned. She hadn’t had this much fun since the days of the false Revan.

She admired the carnage she’d left in her wake as she returned, blowing up the bits that were still big enough to be repaired. And soon enough she came to Bones and their crew of fighters.

The Zeltron was mostly hidden behind a column, poking out just long enough to fire off a few rounds before retreating back to safety. There were three bodies on the floor, having been part of Bones’ crew. But there were dozens of Skytrooper bodies littering the hallway. Lightning crackled on her lightsaber as she laughed without abandon, diving into the thick of the fight.

Skytroopers had never seen a Sith quite like her. Sure, there were Knights and Exarchs who used double-bladed lightsabers, but never with the unbridled and erratic fury of Darth Nox. Zash had always made comments about her unconventional techniques with a lightsaber, but Messalina did what she wanted. And she wanted to wield a lightsaber like a flaming banshee.

A handful of deadly strokes later, and the hallway had been cleared. She turned back to Bones and wiped her forehead with the back of her wrist.

“Well, that was fun.”

Bones was unamused, “Yep, fun. That’s the word I’d use.”

She stuck her tongue out and talked into her commlink again, “Nikos, you still there?”

“I’m here, Messalina,” he replied, “You guys on your way back yet? We’ve got maybe ten minutes before those Fleet ships are on us.”

It still sent shivers down her spine when he said her full name. Andronikos had been the first person that she could remember who’d actually said her name. And he’d said it many times since. But after being treated like cattle for her entire childhood and adolescence, to even be acknowledged by a name sent butterflies through her stomach.

“We’ll be there in five, don’t you worry,” Bones replied, gathering their blasters and rifle, running a bright pink hand through their cobalt blue hair, fiddling with a black hoop earring.

It took them seven minutes to get back to the shuttle. There was an ambush of Skytroopers just before the door to the hangar bay, nothing they couldn’t handle, but still taking precious seconds.

Messalina slid into the copilot’s seat, leaning over and pressing a kiss to Andronikos’ head as she slid her hands on the controls.

“Let’s go,” she commanded.

Nikos just winked at her as he pulled the ship out of the hangar and spun it around, avoiding the wreckage as the Fleet ship in front of them started to push apart, flinging pieces of itself into space as it self-destructed. Messalina looked on with absolute glee when the ship exploded into two parts.

Five seconds later, they jumped into hyperspace.

Messalina pushed her seat back and stretched her arms over her head, “Another job well done.”

Andronikos laughed, “You are pretty damn talented.”

“Oh, I know,” she purred with a wink, “Once we get home, I’ll show you _all_ the ways I’m talented.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” he replied hungrily.

She climbed over the barrier and draped herself over him, pressing the automatic pilot switch and hanging one arm over his shoulders.

“Do you think they tell stories about me, Andronikos?” she asked.

He raised an eyebrow at her, “The droids? Or your former sexual liaisons?”

She snorted and lightly punched his chest, “The GEMINI droids. They’re all dripping with fear when I meet them. Surely they must tell each other about me before they die?”

He thought about it for a moment, dragging a finger through her long, loose curls, “I think they would tell stories about you. You know, if they had free will and could actually tell stories like people.”

She hummed contentedly, remembering the taste of their despair on the tip of her tongue, “Mmm delightful.”

\---

She paced the War Room, holding back the rage in her hands. Lana had told her what had happened in the galaxy during her ice-nap, but reading the reports now of the riots and the famines and crushed economies provoked an anger in her that Raelyn hadn’t felt since Quinn’s betrayal all those years ago. She briefly wondered where he’d gone in the last six years, but decided she didn’t care. He wasn’t a threat, and she doubted he could rise high enough in the ranks to want to join them.

Valkorion pinged on the edges of her thoughts, _Do not waste your thoughts on sycophants and buffoons._

_I’ll waste my thoughts on whoever the fuck I want to, Old Man. You can’t control me._

_Mmm, you are correct. But there are… other methods I can use._

_I dare you to try._

_Do not tempt me, dear Wrath. You will regret it._

She put a hand to the bridge of her nose and shook her head, only looking up when Rimea made a noise from the console.

“What’s up?”

Rimea just shook her head, “It’s probably nothing. Just a weird blip in the server commands. I’ll have Holiday take a look at it.”

_Such wasted potential in that one. She could have rivalled you in her own way. If she had chosen to apply herself._

_I swear to the gods, if you say one more thing about my sister, I’ll throttle you._

_Hmph, an interesting threat considering I have no corporeal form._

_I’ll figure it out, just watch me._

She took a deep breath and put a hand to her gut, running her fingers over the bandages under her clothes.

In the last two weeks, Raelyn had finally begun to take on her role as Alliance Commander. She was once again healthy enough to lead, had begun strength training, had gotten back into light combat training, had been reading reports and news long into the night to catch up. It was nice to have a purpose again.

Arcann, however, had been mysteriously quiet in the last few weeks. Clearly, he hadn’t died back on Asylum - and Valkorion had been clear that it would take more than that to kill any of his children - but he also hadn’t retaliated for their actions yet. Not for Asylum nor for Messalina’s attacks against the Fleet. It was putting everyone on edge.

“Raelyn,” Kalina called from the doorway, wooden staff in her hands, “You’re up early. Did something happen?”

She shook her head, “Nothing in particular. Just couldn’t sleep.”

Kalina nodded and walked up to her side to look at the reports she’d displayed on the terminal, “I suppose it’s too much to hope that Arcann just decided he didn’t want to do this anymore? Went back and started reforming Zakuul, turned the Fleet into refugee barges?”

Raelyn smiled, “Probably.”

_It still confuses me that you would befriend such a pitiful creature as the crippled Jedi. Hopeful, naive, optimistic. She does not see the galaxy as it is._

_Would you give it a rest already? I’m too damn tired for this._

Lana touched her elbow gently as she entered the room, handing her a thermal mug of tea as she approached the central console.

“Hello, my love,” she greeted, taking a sip of her own drink, “No word from Arcann yet, I take it?”

Raelyn shook her head, “Nothing. Zakuul hasn’t even issued a statement about what happened on Asylum. Not about the Scions, the Shadow Port, or the Gravestone. Nothing about their missing Fleet ships, either.”

Lana put a hand to her chin, “Hmm, odd, as Arcann goes. He must be planning something. Nothing from our covert channels?”

Rimea shook her head, “I haven’t heard from Darmas or Jonas, and since the attack there’s been radio silence from our operatives on Zakuul. I’m working on getting through to Kell’di to see if Sith Intelligence has anything more, but I’m not holding my breath.”

“Maire and I have been analyzing his previous actions against riots and uprisings, but the Eternal Empire responded quickly and fiercely to them. Not at all like what’s happening now,” Lana nodded, “I almost wish he would have retaliated already. Then we could at least address it.”

_She knows not for what she wishes. My son is dangerous and unhinged._

_If you say one word against her-_

_Fear not, dear Wrath, I will not harm your fragile ego by commenting on the women you keep in your bed. No matter how small-minded or weak I find them._

Electricity crackled loudly in the room as she let go of her anger. As soon as she realized it, Raelyn curled her hands into fists to suppress the remaining sparks and rubbed at her eye with the palm of her hand. She could sense that everyone had stopped what they were doing and were staring at her.

Rimea, Kalina, and Lana all looked at her with a mixture of fear and concern in their eyes.

“What was that?” some tech asked from the other side of the room.

Nobody answered him.

Kalina reached out and took her hand gently, “Valkorion?”

Raelyn just nodded.

“Lana,” Kalina asked gently, “can you ask Maraalor to meet us in my quarters?”

Lana nodded, pulling out a datapad. Raelyn just looked back at her best friend, noticing for the first time that Kalina was shorter than she remembered. But her hands were warm and soft wrapped around Raelyn’s, the staff nestled between her arm and her side.

“Rimea, can you hold down the fort for a little while? Alert us if anything changes?”

She nodded, bowing over the console again, “Will do. I think Aoide and Aelacc are due to check in in the next half hour or so.”

Kalina closed her eyes and drew a breath, “If all goes well, we should be back before then.”

“What are we doing?” Raelyn asked.

Kalina grinned a little bit and linked their arms together, “We’re going to beat back Valkorion if it’s at all possible.”

_Oh, this should be a good show._

_Shut up._

When they got to Kalina’s rooms, Maraalor was already there, pacing and fidgeting with his lekku.

“No, no, _no_ , I already know what you want to do and I will _not_ allow it!” he declared as soon as they opened the door, “I won’t watch you kill yourself over him!”

Kalina shrugged, bypassing the Togruta and giving Felix - who was sitting at the kitchen table with a mug of caf - a forehead kiss.

“I hate to be that guy who doesn’t support you in everything you want to do, love,” he noted, “But if you’re doing what I think you’re doing, I really wish you wouldn’t.”

Raelyn reached behind her for Lana’s hand, “What, exactly, _are_ we doing? Kalina, you’re making me nervous.”

Kalina visibly took a deep breath, “Do you remember Duras Fain, the Jedi Master I was sent to heal on Nar Shaddaa?”

Raelyn nodded, “Vaguely, yeah. Something about how his mind had been taken over by some Sith Lord? You had some shielding technique or something?”

“Yes. I know Valkorion’s inhabitation of your mind is not the same as Morrage’s or Vivicar’s infestation, but if anyone can give you freedom from him - even temporarily - it’s me. And I have to try.”

Maraalor stepped forward and put his hands out in front of him, “Absolutely _the fuck not_. Are you somehow forgetting that this stupid shielding technique also slowly _kills you_? Yes, Valkorion is annoying, and we all wish Raelyn didn’t have to suffer with him, but I refuse to let you do this to your body again.”

“Maraalor, please,” she sighed, “I’m not that weak. And frankly, I’m a little offended you think you have any say over what I do with my body. I didn’t ask you to be here so you could lecture me on my choices to help people.”

Felix noticeably reached for her hand and rubbed her thumb with his own, a deep crease in his brows.

“I can’t possibly ask you to do this to yourself,” Raelyn said.

Kalina shook her head, “This is the least I can do, Raelyn. I don’t know how long I can hold him back, but it should at least give you a little bit of time to gather your strength and talk to Lana without him interfering.”

Raelyn, Lana, Felix, and Maraalor all just followed Kalina into her bedroom. She climbed up on the bed and sat on her knees, instructing Raelyn to sit opposite her. Felix sat on the edge of the bed with his hand on his wife’s back. Lana and Maraalor stood a bit away from them, the latter fidgeting so much he was shaking.

_Oh, this should be very amusing indeed. You think a pitiful little shielding meditation can touch me?_

“Relax,” Kalina instructed gently, taking Raelyn’s hands in hers and closing her eyes, “I won’t hurt you.”

Raelyn nodded, “Just… don’t hurt yourself, either.”

Kalina grinned, but didn’t reply. Instead, golden streams of light flowed from her and into Raelyn. They weren’t entirely unlike Maraalor’s Force healing, but they shimmered differently. And Raelyn felt the Force wash over her, but it didn’t pass through her like Force healing did. It was soft, comforting, and physically pushing against something in her mind.

_Oh, well, this is annoying._

_Good._

She felt Valkorion’s presence in her mind receding bit by bit. He was being pushed to a corner of her mind, fading from her conscious thoughts slowly but surely.

She squeezed Kalina’s hands, smiling widely.

But Kalina didn’t squeeze them back. A moment later, the Force connection between them was cut, and Raelyn opened her eyes. Kalina smiled softly, her eyes closed, her body swaying as she struggled to sit upright.

“I’m alright,” she said quietly, “Go, Raelyn. Enjoy your freedom for as long as you have it. I’ll be fine.”

She looked to Felix and Maraalor, who were already far too busy fussing over the Barsen’thor.

So she turned to Lana instead. Lana, whose eyes were filled with hope. Lana, whose hands held onto each other so tightly they were white. Lana, whose face was etched in stone and her feelings hidden behind a wall of pragmatism.

Raelyn stood up and in one swift motion wrapped her arm around her partner’s waist and kissed her strongly, bringing her other hand to the back of Lana’s head and holding her tightly.

When she pulled away, Lana let out a breath, “He’s gone, then?”

“For now,” Raelyn replied, pressing their foreheads together.

Lana grinned, “Then we best make the most of it.”

“I have a few ideas,” Raelyn suggested, “Five years with nothing but my own thoughts left me plenty of time to daydream.”

“I’m sure it did,” Lana replied, holding back a chuckle.

Raelyn looked up and made eye contact with Felix, “Let me know her status as soon as you have it?”

He nodded, “Can do.”

“Lana?”

“I’m here.”

“I love you so much,” she said, kissing her again and delighting in the noise of surprise she made.

“I love you, too.”

Raelyn took her hand and led her across the hall into their own apartment, shutting and locking the door firmly behind her.

\---

When Kalina woke up again, the room was dark. She opened her eyes, waiting for a moment for her vision to clear and adjust to the little light that floated up from the floor. Her arms and legs felt like jelly, feet and hands attacked by the sensation of pins and needles. Her head felt vaguely like it was going to explode.

“I’m here, Lina,” came Felix’s soft voice. He squeezed her hand softly.

“You always are,” she replied, voice dry and raspy.

He kissed her forehead, “Anything I can do to help?”

She shook her head, “You already are. Thank you, Felix.”

He paused, rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb for a moment in the quiet.

Kalina turned her head and looked at his silhouette in the darkness as he stared over her at the wall to her right.

“You okay?” she asked.

He nodded, “Just worried.”

“About me?” she offered with a smile, “Because I’ve handled worse things than this.”

Felix grimaced a little and looked back down at his lap, “About you. And about… other things.”

“What do you mean-?”

At that moment, the lights flickered back up and the door opened, revealing a very frazzled Maraalor Telosi. His whole body was practically vibrating, lekku twitching violently as he pressed down the wrinkles on his shirt.

“Great ancestors, she _didn’t_ die!”

Kalina rolled her eyes, “Please, Maraalor, I’m fine.”

His eyes flared, bright green briefly flickering to golden yellow as his lekku jumped, “Fine!? You’re _fine_!? You were unconscious for two hours because of that escapade and now you’re just _fine_!?”

She put her hand up, still clinging to Felix with the other, “I knew what I was doing. Please, Maraalor, you have to trust that I know my own body and what I can do with it.”

His nostrils flared, but he didn’t react immediately, which was a good sign. He was always more reasonable when he wasn’t impulsive.

He sighed, “Fine. But I’m still your doctor, and you’re still to be under adult supervision until your body sorts itself out and you find some sort of new normal, alright?”

She smiled, closing her eyes again, “Felix counts as adult supervision, right?”

Maraalor audibly sighed, “Yes.”

“Perfect,” she declared, “Then I have my adult supervision right here. We have a meeting in a couple hours, yes? To discuss our envoys to the Republic and Sith Empire?”

He grumbled something noncommittal.

Felix shook his head, finally sporting a little smile, “I’ll take care of her, Maraalor. We’ll see you in the War Room.”

As soon as Maraalor was out of sight, Kalina buried herself back into the pillow with a quiet whine. She hoped Raelyn was faring better.

\---

The Battlemaster was more timid than Aoide remembered. Not that she’d ever had the opportunity to work side-by-side with the woman before all this Eternal Empire nonsense, but they’d both made enough public appearances in their service to the Republic to get a feel for what the other was like.

Aoide wasn’t good at small talk, and she never had been. But she wasn’t timid. She wasn’t afraid to approach a stranger and ask for directions, or order a drink from a bar she’d never been to, or wave around a blaster to get what she needed. Aelacc shrank away from people, hide inside herself to avoid them. Odd for one of the leaders of the Jedi to have so much fear in her. Didn’t take any sort of connection to the Force to see that.

Still, she was powerful in her own way. Her skills with a lightsaber were certainly unparalleled, and her sweet, unassuming presence usually meant people would let their guard down around here, even if they did recognize her as one of the most powerful Force-users of the galaxy. And Aoide was glad for the company - Tatooine was a dreadful planet.

There were still a few leftover SIS Agents on the planet scavenging the old Czerka base when Zakuul attacked and installed their Star Fortress. Now, instead of spying on corporate maniacs, they had taken to spying on the Eternal Empire’s forces occupying the planet. Agent Fauler had become their de facto leader, having been most familiar with the planet itself and already in charge of the Czerka team.

“Hey hey hey, the Colonel of Havoc Squad and the Jedi Battlemaster come walking into my very legitimate establishment!? What are the chances!” he exclaimed as they wandered into a nearly empty warehouse.

Aoide clucked her tongue, “Haven’t been with Havoc Squad in a long time, Fauler.”

He waved his hand, “Semantics. What brings you ladies to my humble abode?”

“That Star Fortress in your atmosphere.”

Fauler frowned and ushered them further inside, “Ah, nasty business that. You guys here to take it down? Cause I hear there’s a Selonian out in the desert who’s already speccing the place with a band of guerrilla fighters. They’ve really kept us out of the whole thing.”

Aelacc nodded, “Leyta, yes, we know of her. Do you know where she is?”

Fauler shrugged, “Somewhere out near the krayt dragon fossil, but you never really know how good those rumors are.”

Aoide stepped forward, using every inch of her significant height to tower over him, “Why don’t you give us the rundown then? No need for anything official.”

Fauler’s face scrunched as he looked from Aoide to Aelacc and took a step backwards, “I’m not really sure why you need it to be unofficial, but alright.”

“Fauler,” Aoide emphasized, “You’re a goddamn spy. You know damn well that Aelacc and I haven’t made contact with the Republic in years. You’ve probably already sent out a signal to one of your bosses. You knew the moment we touched down, and you knew the route we’d take to get here. Don’t act ignorant. You know damn well why I need this unofficial.”

Aelacc remained silent behind her, but Aoide could see out of the corner of her eye that the Twi’lek had a hand on her lightsaber nervously.

“Oh! Aoide! Aelacc!” a voice called from the entrance of the warehouse.

Aelacc turned around, immediately removing her hand from her weapon to face the newcomer, “Kira!”

Fauler put his hand on his hip, “Miss Carsen, could you explain to your friends here that I am not the good Republic lapdog they seem to think I am?”

Kira let out a loud laugh, smiling widely, “Sorry, guys, I meant to send it in my note. Fauler’s one of us now. Saresh basically abandoned the SIS agents out here once the war broke out. Made it impossible to get supplies or a trip back home. So they’re working with Leyta and me and the rest of the gang.”

Aoide looked from Fauler to Kira and took a step back, “Apologies, Agent.”

Fauler rolled his eyes, “Thanks. Now, if we could get to business?”

Kira nodded, “Right, yeah. We’re camped about two clicks out from Anchorhead, but I think we can coordinate this without you two causing a raucous in the ranks. Two big Pub names like you two aren’t going to make a really great impression on our ragtag little group of survivors and bounty hunters. But that doesn’t mean we can’t work together. ‘Deadeye’ Leyta is the group leader, that Selonian wanted on Corellia for murdering another clan, and the rest aren’t much better. But they want Tatooine free again as much as you do, and there are some pretty rich traders who are willing to pay them to do the job.”

“I haven’t even met them,” Fauler admitted, pulling up some schematics on the holoterminal, “but from what Kira says, they can get the job done.”

“Well, they can get you the schematics,” Kira clarified, “It’ll take a small number of highly qualified combatants to take down the Star Fortress itself. Not even Leyta is prepared to fight that alone.”

Aoide looked over to Aelacc, “Seems like we have a couple of highly qualified combatants right here.”

“That’s why I asked for you two specifically,” Kira replied with a grin.

\---

“Vector? What’s all this?”

Rimea stood in the doorway of their bedroom, looking into the kitchen that had been decorated with soft lights and pale green plants in the center of the table.

Her husband stood at the stove, a spatula in his hand, his sleeves pushed up over his elbow as he cooked.

“It is our wedding anniversary,” he replied evenly, “We thought we could cook you breakfast before your meetings today.”

Rimea wrapped her arms around him from behind and pressed her face to his back, “Oh, stars, I totally forgot. I’m so sorry, Vector.”

“There is no need for an apology,” he said, turning and pressing a kiss to her head, “We know you have been very busy. But we also asked Raelyn to clear your schedule for the evening so we might spend some time with you. We hope you do not mind our forwardness.”

Rimea squeezed him tight, letting his presence calm and soothe her, “Of course I don’t mind, my love. Thank you for being so thoughtful.”

“We also asked Raj and his fiancee to watch Rippir and Alila tonight. They sounded delighted that we asked.”

Rimea grinned, swiping her finger along the inside of the bowl holding the batter Vector was cooking, “I’m not surprised. Thank you, Vector. You’re so very good to me.”

“We love you very much, Rimea.”

She squeezed him back, “I love you, too.”

After they ate, she made her way to the smugglers’ hangar for her meeting with Hylo. She was sure she was still smiling; as she left their apartment, Vector reminded her of their dinner date after work tonight. Not that work really ever ended for Rimea. But still, something special to look forward to, even if she’d totally forgotten it was their anniversary.

“Morning, sunshine,” Hylo greeted as she entered the room, feet up on the holoterminal and a mug of caf in her hands, “Gault and Geralt are on their way. Had to swindle the early morning gamblers at sabacc or something.”

She looked over to Eckard Lokin, the only other person in the room, who had a tiny rakghoul hanging from his arm like a pet.

“Good morning, my dear,” he offered casually without so much as a glance towards her.

“Good morning,” she replied to both of them, taking the seat opposite Hylo and turning on her datapad.

The Alliance was quickly draining all of its funds, borrowed and otherwise. Hylo had been complaining for weeks that her contacts were getting antsy about repayments on loans, and Gault and Geralt had both jumped at the chance to make a few credits on the side. Doctor Lokin had some contacts in the underworld still and offered to do what he could to help. Rimea had been sent in as a voice of reason. And to keep the boys from robbing the galaxy blind.

“Listen,” Gault’s voice wafted in from the hallway, “All I’m saying is we can make millions of credits beating the right three or four guys at sabacc. Rich egomaniacs _love_ to gamble, and they _hate_ to lose.”

“That’ll only work once,” Geralt rebutted as they entered, “and our names are on enough wanted lists, thanks.”

“Oh come on, where’s your sense of adventure?”

Lokin cleared his throat, and Hylo gave them a mock-salute.

“Nice to see you, gentlemen,” she said, “I trust you’ve robbed enough folks this morning?”

Geralt gasped dramatically, “I _robbed_ no one. The cards went well for me this morning, and I won’t apologize for that.”

Rimea waved her hand, “Enough, I don’t want to know.”

Geralt shrugged, “Alright, alright, whatever you say.”

Gault slid onto the chair next to Hylo and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pressing a kiss to her temple before she elbowed him off onto the floor.

“Wow, rude,” he whined, rubbing his ass as he stood up.

“Already told you I ain’t your wife until noon,” Hylo replied, looking at the chronometer on her wrist, “And according to my time, you got a whole hour before you can start on that mushy crap.”

Gault pouted, and Rimea stood up with a deep inhale, “Alright, well, since we’re all here, how about we get started?”

Hylo drank the rest of her caf and handed the mug to Gault as she stood and pulled up a finance report on the holoterminal, “We’re doing our best to keep the supply lines running, but most of the people I deal with aren’t exactly philanthropists. We can’t keep running this Alliance on goodwill and borrowed credits.”

“So we need a steady income,” Rimea offered, ready to project her list of suggestions - with pros and cons of each - to the terminal.

But Hylo raised an eyebrow, “Or a really big slush fund.”

Geralt and Gault looked at each other with a knowing and mischievous look in their eyes. Oh gods, no.

“You know who has the biggest slush fund in the galaxy?” Gault asked.

Rimea refused to answer.

Geralt chimed in instead, “The one and only, Immortal Emperor, Arcann Tirall.”

Rimea closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, “Absolutely not. There’s no way we are going to hack into Arcann’s treasury and steal the money we need to fight a war against him.”

“Why not?” Gault argued, “We already have someone who knows how to hack into his other systems - which is you, by the way. Surely, the imperial treasury can’t be that much harder? And think of Arcann’s face when he finds out.”

“And think of the disaster that’ll happen if we fail,” Rimea retorted, “If we’re caught sticking our hands in his systems, they’ll be able to trace everything we’ve done back to Odessen. We can’t risk that.”

“Actually,” Lokin chimed in, “I think that might actually work, Rimea. We can pull together our best slicers both here and on Zakuul. Half of them will work together to transfer funds, the other half will work to protect the locations and identities of the hackers. If you lead the first team, Theron Shan could lead the second. I may… have a contact on Zakuul who can get us past the first layers of security.”

Rimea just stared at him, equally surprised and horrified that he’d suggest something so reckless. It was easy to forget that he, too, was once an idealistic young agent for the Empire.

Hylo laughed, “Well, that does seem to be the best plan we’ve got at the moment. I can’t trust either of these hooligans to hold down an actual job, anyway. I’ll get to work on coordinating the slicers. Gault, Geralt, I trust you two can handle yourselves well enough to get some reconnaissance on this treasury?”

Geralt slapped his hands together and rubbed them excitedly, “Oh hell yes. My time to shine, baby!”

Gault punched him in the shoulder, “No time like the present to get started.”

\---

Arcann slammed his fist into the holoterminal, “ _Fourteen_ Fleet ships, destroyed. And not a single clue who destroyed them! There are guerrilla forces being left unchecked on Tatooine, Alderaan, and Manaan. The Outlander is _still_ missing. And we don’t have a single fucking clue on her whereabouts, either! How did I become the master of so many _useless and weak_ sycophants? So preoccupied with licking my boots that they cannot even do _their own jobs_!”

The ministers in front of him stood rigid, all of them terrified of moving a muscle, that he might unleash his anger upon them.

He paced in front of them, hands behind his back, lightsaber on his belt loop and glinting as the light hit it. Vaylin was sitting in a shadowed corner, watching the scene play out. Arcann didn’t mind. Let there be an audience.

“I need a location,” he growled, voice lowered but not less menacing, “Give me the location of the Outlander and her alliance by the end of the week or I will kill each and every one of you. Bomb the galaxy to dust if you must! But bring me the Outlander.”

They stared at him.

He let three full seconds tick by before he bellowed, “Well!? Do you think you’ll find her just standing there? Get out of my throne room!”

Silently they hurried out into the hallway.

Arcann inhaled through his teeth and collapsed on the throne. The last three weeks had not been kind to him.

Vaylin emerged from her hiding place and walked purposefully to the throne, “You could just find her yourself, you know. She’ll come out of her hole if you give her enough of a reason to.”

He shook his head, “She has no reason to fight me. Not now.”

“We could change that,” Vaylin said teasingly, “You’ve read reports about her. There are things you could do that would hurt her from a distance.”

“If you have a suggestion, Vaylin, please just say it,” he replied, rubbing his forehead with his good hand. His prosthetic shoulder ached something awful, it was nearly unbearable.

She blew out of her nose, “Take all the fun out of it, why don’t you? Fine. I’ve read the reports on her, our Outlander valued her family over everything. She was devoted to them.”

Arcann looked at her from between his fingers, “So what? We don’t know where her brother or sister are.”

“Maybe not,” Vaylin continued, “But we do know where her parents are, yes? They’re both alive, and retired on Jurio. And we know her apprentice and Twi’lek friend were last seen on Ryloth, yes? She dallied with that Lana Beniko woman on Rishi. And there are other worlds important to her.”

“You’re suggesting we hold her family and friends captive until she comes forward?”

Vaylin shook her head, “Oh, no, I’m suggesting something much much better than that.”

He dropped his hand. Gods, he was so tired. “Out with it, Vaylin.”

She pouted at him for a second before she answered, “We send out messages to all the planets with her last-known friends, family, and contacts. We demand they give up her location in two standard days’ time, or we bomb them into dust.”

He stared at her, at this mess of a woman before him. Her hair was tangled and greasy, mostly hidden under her hood. Her hands were shaking even as she proclaimed her plan. Her eyes were wild and golden-yellow, flashing intensely whenever she spoke about the destruction of others. Arcann looked in her eyes, searched for the little girl he used to know before Valkorion snatched her away to Nathema. And he couldn’t find her. He couldn’t find his sister.

But the High Justice stood before him, and her hand was swift and powerful.

“We either learn where she is, or we kill everything she loves,” Arcann said quietly, no longer searching Vaylin’s face for the girl she used to be.

“Don’t forget it’ll send a message to the rest of the galaxy that joining her means opposing us.”

He nodded, “Nobody opposes the Eternal Throne and wins.”

She grinned, a glint of violence and anticipation in her eye as she turned on her heel and practically skipped her way to the elevator door, “Just let me know where to send the message and I’ll have the Fleet move into position.”

Arcann grunted a response and as she left the Throne Room, he was left alone. There was a quiet whirring noise from the throne itself, but otherwise the room was completely silent. He felt his heart beating in his chest.

He pulled up the report on the Outlander on his datapad when he looked at the destroyed holoterminal. He read through her history and investigated each of the planets mentioned in important parts of her life.

Korriban, the place where she’d become both Sith and recognized by the Dark Council as the Wrath, had already been reduced to rubble. She’d cut all her ties on Dromund Kaas after the events of the False Revan. Nar Shaddaa had been where she’d met the future Barsen’thor, but the current whereabouts of that Jedi were completely unknown.

But her parents, and the parents of her sister’s husband were on Jurio. Her apprentice and Twi’lek friend were on Ryloth. Rishi held valuable Mandalorian allies and memories of her times with Lana Beniko. She still had allies left on Manaan, another planet that also held history for her. And Umbara was the planet where she found her first lightsaber crystal - important to her personally, but also to the Jedi and Sith as a whole. She’d also helped the Umbaran government negotiate with the miners in a rebellion. Yes, these five would do.

He sent off a note to Vaylin with the planets and the message to deliver.

And he sat back in the throne, pressing his back against it and pressing his knees against the sides. It felt good to strike back.


	8. Anarchy in Paradise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warnings for descriptions of genocide (in the second and fourth sections).

Raj reached out and grabbed Koth’s hand, stopping him from fidgeting nervously and picking at the skin around his fingernails. He looked up and smiled, taking a deep breath. The breeze fluttered against his thin white shirt, revealing a couple long, thin scars that Raj traced with his eyes for the thousandth time. Both of them wore soft gray pants that were drawn at the ankle and white shirts, though Raj had his sleeves rolled up past his elbows while Koth’s hung at his wrists.

“Hey,” Raj said as Koth went back to staring at his bare feet, pulling his attention back up, “it’s gonna be good. Geralt said he had a surprise, and if it’s anything like the last one, it’ll be amazing.”

Koth chuckled and squeezed his hand, “I know. But it doesn’t make it any less nerve-wracking, you know? We’re still committing our lives to each other. And it’s a choice I definitely want to make, but it doesn’t make it any less… _big_.”

The music on the other side of the canvas sheet door changed, cueing them to enter the ceremony. Raj cupped the side of Koth’s face with his free hand and kissed his forehead gently, then dropped his head a little so it touched Koth’s. This man before him, soft and gentle and kind, selfless and compassionate and generous, driven and devoted, comforting and comfortable, bright and beautiful even in his darkest hours. His eyes welled up as he held Koth close, as he held the man who was shortly going to be his husband.

Raj wasn’t sure this day would ever come. And now that it was here, now that he was standing before Koth in the privacy of a little canvas tent, the weight of this moment could have suffocated him. He _belonged_ here. He was _home_.

He breathed deeply and pulled back so he could look into Koth’s dark eyes, finally replying to him.

“We’ve already made that choice,” he encouraged gently, clearing his throat and wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, “Today is just the day where we confirm and share that choice with the other people we love.”

Koth exhaled and smiled, “The people who are probably starting to get impatient that we haven’t made an appearance yet?”

“Eh, we’re building the suspense,” Raj replied with a wink, as if he hadn’t been overwhelmed with love a moment before.

Koth tugged on his hand and stepped out of the tent, pulling Raj with him.

It was a glorious summer evening on Odessen; the sun was setting in bright pinks and purples, the air was warm, the breeze was light. The field in which they gathered had been cut short by a small army of lightsabers, leaving behind small blades of grass that tickled the bottom of his feet. There were large, colorful blankets spread out on the ground where everyone gathered and pillows grouped in small clusters for people to sit on. Small paper lanterns and bundles of cut red and white flowers decorated the spaces between cushions. The wildlife buzzed and chirped and growled in the distance, and the people gathered were chatting quietly with each other, the combination creating a soft hum.

In the center of the crowd was a low table, decorated with the same red and white flowers, two bowls of deep red paste, and six white candles of even height lined up in the center. Kalina sat on the far side, with her trusty staff on the ground in front of her.

Off to the side Felix and Andi were playing acoustic xanthas - the source of the melody floating over the crowd. Even from a distance, Raj could see Aoide’s other three girls watching their oldest sister with awe and stars in their eyes. Thastre and her daughter sat beside them, Thandra making visible heart eyes at the young Zabrak. Rhian Lornacch sat with Thexan, Ona’la, and their two little blue twi’lek girls. And Jinnia, of course, sat front and center, her eyes unwavering from Kalina and the table.

The rest of his family was there, too; Rimea, Vector, Rippir, and Alila sat on one side of Jinnia, while Raelyn and Lana sat on the other. Rippir was holding Jinnia’s hand while he picked at the grass that poked up in front of the blanket they sat on.

It wasn’t a large gathering, but all of the Commanders and their families were there, along with a few Zakuulans who had been missing home. Perhaps it wasn’t so surprising, then, that Senya sat with a small crowd of refugees, a toddler in her lap. She looked over to Thexan, who made eye contact and smiled. She was practically beaming. Anya, of course, immediately ran over to her paternal grandmother and attached herself to her side, then just as abruptly sprinted back to her parents, tripping over herself a couple times on the way.

They were all so happy sitting with each other, admiring the sunset and laying on the soft ground. Raj almost hated to interrupt them.

But Kalina saw them exit the tent and nodded, waving them forward, which of course got the attention of everyone else. All at once, every head turned and looked at the pair of them. It took every ounce of self-discipline for Raj to not crack a joke when he felt his face flush.

Koth leaned into him a little as they continued, giggling and grinning as they meandered through the crowd, avoiding the flowers and the children who ran underfoot. When they reached the center of the gathering, they sat on the large cushion opposite Kalina. Koth squeezed his hand and Raj returned it.

The music stopped when Kalina turned her head slightly and made eye contact with her husband.

“Friends and family, welcome,” she began, her voice strong and even, her hands held out, “Today, of course, we celebrate the commitment and journeys of the two men before me. We celebrate the joy and love they have for each other. We celebrate the families they are bringing together. And we celebrate a hopeful future, filled with light and peace.

“For those of you unfamiliar with Zakuulan customs,” Kalina continued, “we will begin with a candle-lighting, one for each of the six Zakuulan Old Gods.”

Kalina brought one hand back to her lap, and ignited a small flame in the other, holding it over the first candle, “For Izax, that you know each other as he knows all, and that you hold each other dear beyond the death he brings.”

There was a moment of quiet, and Raj slid his hand back into Koth’s as the latter bowed his head reverently. The Zakuulan refugees were quietly humming incantations to the left of him, their accents noticeable as they spoke their native language.

Kalina lit the second candle, “For Scyva, that your love for each other emulates her love for her children and husband, and that you may endure the sorrows of life as she has, stronger for having each other as you do.”

Stars above did he love Koth. Loved him so much he thought he would burst some days. Loved him so much that when Koth asked if they should have a culturally mixed ceremony he replied without hesitation, _“Absolutely not.”_

Kalina lit the third candle, “For Tyth, that you find triumph and strength in the love you have for each other, and you have his courage and resilience in hard times.”

Koth squeezed his hand. Raj looked over to him, finding him smiling widely even if his head was bowed and his gaze at his lap. He’d never been more glad that they agreed to dive wholeheartedly into Zakuul traditions.

Kalina lit the fourth candle, again with her magic fingers, “For Aivela, that your passion is everlasting, and that you stand firm beside each other as she stands beside her brother, Tyth.”

Raj had never really been particularly spiritual. He’d not had the same connection to the Sith as Raelyn, was never fully embraced by the Republic or the Empire. He’d always figured that his job was to do as much good as he can, and worry about the rest later.

Kalina lit the fifth candle, “For Esne, that you remain devoted despite her trials for you, that her envy never separate you.”

But Koth was immensely spiritual. And time and time again, he’d been battered and bruised, denied and rejected by the gods he was so devoted to. This was his moment. He’d earned this moment, this joy. His devotion was unwavering, through every trial.

Kalina paused a little longer as she lit the final candle, “And finally, for the son whose name we do not speak, we light this candle so that you may find your way home always, that you not fall into darkness.”

A single tear ran down Koth’s cheek as he squeezed Raj’s hand. Raj leaned over and kissed the side of his head, nuzzling against him as silence fell over the crowd for a moment.

“Thank you,” Koth whispered, so softly Raj felt the breath against his neck more than he heard the words, “Thank you for this.”

“Never had a culture to celebrate before,” he replied, just as softly, “but I have you.”

It suddenly dawned upon him that there were shadows moving in the darkness around their gathering, forms circling the clearing. Koth smiled against him as he sat up straight and looked around, trying to track them with his eyes, but the dimness of the almost completely set sun combined with the shadows thrown by the lanterns made it nearly impossible.

Were the Odessen beasts getting hungry? Or was this the next part of the ceremony? The part of the ceremony only described to Raj as “family-claiming” and “you’ll see”.

Some of the Zakuulan children were giggling, standing up and stomping their feet as the shadows whisked by them.

Kalina smiled gently and explained, “Traditionally, demon spirits would interrupt the proceedings and claim the unfamiliar scent of the new tribe member. Members of the families of each person must come forward and claim him as their own. We’re going to do this by having folks gathered here use the temporary pigments on this table and decorate both Raj and Koth to symbolise the coming together of both families. Senya and Thexan, if you’d like to start.”

Koth swiftly pulled his shirt off over his head and folded it neatly, placing it on the ground beside him. Raj followed suit, albeit a little less gracefully and attempting to never take his eyes off Koth.

He just chuckled, even as Senya knelt in front of him and took the pen from the bowl, drawing a series of small spirals on his right hand. Thexan knelt in front of Raj and did the same. Then they switched and Senya drew on Raj’s left hand and Thexan on Koth’s. His hands prickled as the ink began to fuse with his skin. Koth beamed proudly.

Senya put the pen back in the bowl of pigment and turned back to Koth, “We Zakuulans have to stick together, you know.”

“Damn straight,” Koth replied with a grin and a nod.

Noghea came sprinting up next - her enthusiasm for decorating Raj probably the only reason she wasn’t dressed as one of the spirits. Who, by this point had actually entered their field of view. They were dressed in skin-tight black suits with enormous masks on their heads - they looked a little silly in the light. They whooped and hollered in the time between folks going up to the soon-to-be-married couple, dancing on a very fine line between family appropriate and incredibly provocative. Judging by the timbre of one of the whoops, and the kisses blown into the crowd, Raj guessed one of the three of them was Geralt, and this was his surprise.

Not as good as the ship.

But Koth was delighted, laughing whenever one of them whacked their mask on something or did some bizarre dance. So it was still a pretty good surprise.

The Mirialan captain opted to paint the tops of their feet in a swirling ivy pattern, sticking her tongue out as she went, trying to keep the lines neat.

“It’s harder than it looks!” she whined when Raj started to snicker, bapping his knee with the pen before finishing her design.

Koth watched her quietly, wrapping his arms around his knees as she went.

As she finished, she looked up and winked, “You’re part of _my_ crew now, bucko.”

“Hey, hey,” he objected, “Not if you’re on _my_ ship!”

She waved her hand dismissively and passed the pen on to the next person. And on the ceremony went, the pen and paste being passed around until just about everyone in the crowd had gotten a chance to dot and swirl and line and flower their skin.

Rimea and Raelyn were two of the last, being passed the pens by their respective partners.

Rimea went to Raj first, joyful tears in the corners of her eyes.

“You know, there was a time where the only way I would see you would be through intelligence reports,” she said as she penned dainty leaves on the front of his left shoulder, “If the galaxy falls apart tomorrow, I’ll still be glad it brought us together again.”

He laughed, “If it could wait another couple weeks, I’d really like to get through my honeymoon first.”

She gigglesnorted and wiped the back of her hand across her nose, resting on her knees as she looked from his shoulder to his eyes, “I’m so happy for you, Raj. And I love you.”

He leaned forward and kissed the top of her head, “Love you too, Mea.”

Koth burst out a laugh with Raelyn as she and Rimea switched seats, and even though he had no idea what joke they shared, Raj felt his heart swell at the sound.

“Hello, Mister No-Longer-The-Galaxy’s-Most-Eligible Bachelor,” she greeted, grunting quietly as she sat down and began to draw.

“Hello, Madam Galaxy’s-Biggest-Lesbian,” he replied.

She winked, “That’s _Lord_ Galaxy’s-Biggest-Lesbian to you.”

He put his hands to his heart dramatically, careful not to actually touch the decorated skin, “Even your own brother needs to use your Sith title? I am _wounded_ , Raelyn, _wounded_.”

She paused, like she was thinking hard, “Well, alright. _You_ may skip the title.”

He laughed and she laughed with him.

The spirits were still closing in, despite all the work done by friends and family, though they were certainly losing steam. Their circles were oblong and slow-moving at this point, but had nearly made it to reaching distance of the two boys.

Jinnia was the last to grab the pen and paste.

Very seriously, she stepped forward in front of her fathers, then looked the nearest spirit in the eye and glared as hard as she could. The spirit stopped and started to shake.

Carefully, she took the pen and dipped it into the paste, inspecting it closely before she reached forward and penned a circle over Koth’s heart.

“I love you, Papa,” she said with a wide smile.

Koth kissed her head, “I love you too, little dragon.”

She stepped back and looked serious again. She glared at the next spirit, who also stopped in their tracks and started to tremble. She stepped over in front of Raj.

Again, she filled the pen with paste. Again, she inspected it closely. Again, she reached forward. This time, she penned a circle over Raj’s heart.

“I love you, Daddy,” she said again.

Raj nearly lunged forward to hug her, but caught himself at the last second and instead squeezed her free right hand, “I love you too, Jin.”

Without moving, she stared at the last spirit - whom Raj was pretty sure was Geralt - and glared again. This time, the spirit fell backwards in a dramatic death.

“Oh, I have been slain!” he wailed, definitely Geralt, “The love and acceptance of your families have destroyed us!”

The other two spirits shrieked and ran into the tall grass, leaving Geralt behind on the ground. Jinnia sat in Raj’s lap, arms carefully resting on his knees so she didn’t touch the paste on his skin.

Kalina didn’t even cast a glance towards the dead spirit, “Before we end this ceremony and eat and dance to our hearts’ content, we offer one last prayer and vow to the gods for the men who sit with us.”

The crowd hushed, even as the smells of bang corn and roasted nerf wafted through the air. Raj took Koth’s hand in his again, trying not to smudge the decorations. After the ceremony, they could wash the paste off, leaving behind dark red temporary tattoos. But the ink had to set first. Legend held that the longer the tattoos lasted, the stronger the marriage would be - and for the tattoos to last, the paste had to sit for awhile. Which was a terrible thing to suffer when all he wanted to do was wrap up his daughter in his arms and tackle his husband with kisses.

“Koth and Raj,” Kalina continued, “may you love each other through the trials of what is to come. May you love each other wholeheartedly even on your worst days. May you work together as a team always, for each other and for your family. May you never be separated by jealousy or by darkness. And may you always find comfort in each other,” Kalina paused as her words hung over them.

“Koth,” she said after a moment, “Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

He nodded, “Absolutely, I do.”

“And Raj,” she said, turning a little to face him, “Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

“Gods, yes.”

Kalina smiled, “In that case - Jinnia, would you like to say it? Just like we practiced?”

“Yes!” she jumped out from Raj’s lap and stood next to Kalina on the other side of the table.

Kalina held her hand and nodded, and it took all of Raj’s willpower not to cry as his daughter officially declared.

“I pro-, I pronounce you married! You can kiss now!”

Koth practically jumped on him, holding him by the nape of his neck and pressing himself against him. Well, hopefully the paste had set because Raj put his hands on Koth’s shoulders and kissed him just as fiercely.

“I love you so much,” Koth breathed.

Raj grinned, “I love you, too, _husband_.”

\---

“Is there anarchy in paradise, dear brother?” Vaylin sang as she skipped around the Throne, “Is it making you sad?”

“ _Stop it_ ,” Arcann growled through clenched teeth. His jaw ached horribly, but what else was he supposed to do?

There was _still_ no word from the Outlander. Or the Alliance. Or whoever was picking off his ships.

How many worlds would they have to bomb before someone gave up their locations? Jurio and Rishi were in the process of being bombed to oblivion, Manaan had already started a full-scale evacuation in response to his message, Umbara refused to give up any useful information whatsoever, and Ryloth was proving far more troublesome than it was worth.

Vaylin pulled up a holorecording from the ground on Jurio, sitting on the floor in front of the Throne and pulling a pastry out of her pocket, gnawing on a corner as she watched it. To her, this was entertainment - like most people watch shitty holonet soap operas. Her eyes were alight with every new explosion, every scream and gasp of fear. Flames reflected in her golden eyes, even as drops of jam dribbled down her chin. She wiped the back of her hand across her mouth without so much as blinking.

He couldn’t look at her.

A Miralukan child ran across the projection, tear and blood stains in equal measure dripping down their face. Their clothes were tattered, white hair matted and dirty - even the mask over their eyes was all but gone now, leaving behind empty sockets where eyes would have been. The volume was low, but even so, their screams and cries were piercing. It seemed like the whole planet was just a village of orphaned, screaming children, running amok. His stomach flipped and he held back a gag as he manually turned down the volume on the hearing aid in his mask. Wouldn’t help his uninjured right ear any, but at least it was muffled a bit more.

There were dozens of them, children staggering and sprinting away from the destruction, only to find every place they knew had been decimated. A few sat on the ground and cried, having exhausted all of the options their young brains could process. Others, older children mostly, grabbed the small ones and ran as fast as their spindly legs could carry them into any direction that was away from the flames and the shrapnel. Fear radiated out of their little bodies, their eyes wide and searching as they whipped their heads around to find some measure of safety.

His eyes went back to the first child he’d seen - looked for the injury that caused the blood on their face, but there was nothing obvious. Not that this camera was particularly steady or clear. Still, his gut settled, if only a little.

Another bomb dropped from out of nowhere and the screen went to static. Vaylin casually flipped to another feed from one of the capital cities, but Arcann nearly threw up.

He stood up swiftly without a word and grunted something to Vaylin, who waved him off and licked one of her fingers, eyes glued to the screen.

The next few minutes went by in somewhat of a blur - he somehow managed to stumble into the elevator and pressed the key to the floor where his private rooms were. He got out and put his hand to the wall, dragging it alongside him as he fumbled his way to his room.

_He couldn’t breathe._

He struggled to unlock the mask as his hands shook, and eventually he just ripped it off with brute force before he staggered into the refresher and hung his head over the sink, waiting for the nausea to subside. His head was spinning and he braced himself against the pristine white porcelain sink with his hands.

_Scyva, those were his bombs. His orders to destroy everything. He was the reason for the genocides on Rishi and Jurio. His hands may not be at fault this time, he may not have dragged his lightsaber through a crowd of defenseless prisoners as he had on Korriban, but he was still at fault for this._

Tears burned behind his eyes but he refused to let them out. Crying was a sign of weakness, a sign of remorse and regret. Arcann had no regrets. This was the only way to rid the galaxy of its biggest threat. And if planets’ worth of innocent people had to die - then they weren’t really innocent anyway.

He saw the Miralukan child in his mind again and wondered how they could have been guilty of anything. Sith Darths, Jedi Knights, Fleet Commanders, they had all directly threatened his rightful place in the galaxy. They had all tried to undermine his authority and his power. The Outlander most of all.

Was it worth killing thousands of children to find the Outlander?

They didn’t matter. They were nobodies. Nobody to mourn them now, anyway. The Outlander was all that was important. The Outlander and her budding Alliance.

“Your Majesty?” a meek voice called from outside the refresher as someone knocked on the doorway even though he’d never actually shut the door.

He growled in response, clenched his hands into fists to keep from crushing whatever poor soul was out there.

“Do you need anything, Your Majesty? Would you like dinner brought to your quarters this evening?”

Arcann huffed, “Leave me alone.”

“Very well, Your Majesty.”

The servant noticeably relaxed as they left, and he heard the soft beep as the door unlocked and opened.

He finally looked up, looked at his hideous, scar-ridden face in the mirror. His prosthetic arm whined as his clenched his fists even tighter. He’d broken this mirror so many times after having to look upon his own face. Holding back today was not a sign of weakness - he simply could not be bothered to suffer with the presence of another squealing servant.

He rubbed his eyes fiercely with his fingers until they burned and ached. Pain was something he could focus on.

Arcann tried desperately not to focus on the pain of everyone he was killing.

“The Outlander is all that matters,” he repeated aloud.

\---

“Did you pick Umbara as our honeymoon destination because the plants were purple and you knew that was my favorite color?” Koth asked as the two of them came into the cockpit.

Raj laughed mischievously, “Nah, picked it because the plants all look like tentacles and I know how much you love _them_.”

Koth didn’t even look at him and shook his head, “I’m just gonna pretend you didn’t say that.”

Raj leaned over and kissed his husband on the cheek before he settled in his seat, up in the cockpit of his beautiful little XS Freighter. Koth had taken to calling her _Xtra Smooth_ , and Raj didn’t think that was such a bad thing.

“Speaking of Umbara, though,” he said, looking down at the autopilot controls, “it looks like we’ll get there in an hour or so. Think we should get packed up?”

Koth raised his eyebrows and grinned, “Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”

Raj was immediately out of his seat again, wrapping his arms around Koth’s waist as they stood in the doorway, “Oh ho ho, Mr. Vortena, are you saying you want me to make love with you right here, right now?”

“I’m not saying I _don’t_ want you to,” he replied in a suggestive whisper, running his hands over the back of Raj’s neck and burying his fingers in his hair.

A shiver ran down his entire spine and he kissed Koth a little more forcefully than he intended, but when he went to pull back and apologize, Koth pulled him in again and kissed him just as forcefully, clenching his hands tighter. Which of course only served to arouse him even more, leading to even more kisses, pulling and nipping at Koth’s lower lip, and maybe even shoving his tongue in his husband’s mouth once or twice. It was all sort of blurry.

Raj rubbed circles into the skin around Koth’s hips, slipping his fingers under his shirt and nudging his pants down a little.

“Gonna have to go faster than that if you wanna do this before we land,” Koth remarked, a little out of breath.

“Customs can wait if it means I give you the best sex you’ve ever had,” he replied, cutting off any rebuttal with another kiss that pushed them against the wall of the hallway.

Something beeped behind them loudly.

Both of them immediately dropped their hold of the other and sprinted back into the cockpit into their respective seats, taking the controls as if they weren’t just in the middle of fucking each other. Though the tingling sensations didn’t stop for awhile.

“Proximity alarm is going off, but I don’t see what it’s reacting to,” Koth noted, hands fluttering over the controls so precisely Raj could feel his heart in his chest.

“Got an official declaration coming through, too,” Raj added, pulling his eyes off Koth’s hands.

“What’s it say?”

“Uhh, hold on, translation is a little slow, it’s apparently not in Aurebesh.”

Koth squinted, “I thought the Umbarans spoke Basic? Do they have their own alphabet?”

Raj shook his head, “Not that I know of.”

He heard Koth suck in his breath, and he knew.

_Zakuul._

Sure enough, the translation came through a moment later.

“All entering spacecraft, under the authority of the Immortal Emperor of Zakuul, you are hereby required to submit to search and seizure of all cargo. No ships are allowed in or out of Umbaran space, and absolutely no provisions will be sent to the rebelling forces on the planet below. All trespassers caught without proper authority from either Exarch Mei or Emperor Arcann will be terminated on sight. Any ship fleeing through the airspace above the planet will be assumed an enemy and disintegrated on sight.”

“Fuck,” Raj breathed, sitting back in his seat for a second while he collected his thoughts.

But Koth leaned forward, taking the navigation controls and zipping ahead.

“You did hear the disintegrated on sight bit, yes?” Raj asked, even as he put his hands back on the controls and took over as copilot.

He knew Koth’s answer before it was even out of his mouth.

“We have to help them.”

Raj nodded, “Alright, so long as we’re clear. I married the man of my dreams already - if we get disintegrated, I’m good.”

Koth snorted out of his nose in amusement, “We won’t get disintegrated, not today.”

\---

Lana laid beside her, blonde hair sprawled out against the pillow, lips parted just slightly as she slept. Her face was calm, almost serene as she faced Raelyn, illuminated by the soft night lights. Her loose shirt rode up and exposed her stomach, and it took all of Raelyn’s self control not to smother every inch of her skin with kisses. As if on cue, Lana unconsciously reached out her hand and grabbed Raelyn, pulling her in closer with a muffled whine. She obliged, rolling over and fitting herself into Lana, who draped her arm over Raelyn’s torso and pressed her face to her back. She laced their fingers together and exhaled.

Oh, how blissful it was to lay with her again.

“Through whatever comes,” Raelyn promised softly, “I’ll always love you.”

To her surprise, Lana squeezed her a little tighter and replied, “Just don’t leave me for another five years. I don’t know if I can do that again.”

Raelyn snuggled against her even more, but spoke lightly, “Weren’t you asleep?”

Lana hummed, “Mmm I was, then you started staring at me.”

“Caught again,” she chuckled.

She could feel Lana shaking her head behind her.

“What? I went five years without seeing your face,” she protested, “I have to make up for as much as I can now.”

Lana snorted, “There are other ways you could make up for you absence, my love. Staring is not necessary.”

Raelyn smirked, though she knew Lana couldn’t see it, “Other ways? You have something in mind?”

“Mmm,” she hummed in response, “I trust you can figure it out.”

In a flush of heat, Raelyn flipped over and propped herself up over Lana with her hand on the pillow.

Then immediately hissed through her teeth as the scar on her torso scathed beneath her loose-fitted shirt.

Lana shook her head, but her cheeks were flushed as she put a cool hand to Raelyn’s stomach and gently worked the Force through her recovering injury.

“Shall we try that again?” she remarked, golden eyes sparkling in the dim light.

Raelyn replied by diving in to kiss the skin where her shoulder and neck met, and sliding her free hand under Lana’s own nightshirt. Stars, her skin was soft and warm and flawless. She absently traced the stretch marks on her thighs and waist and she continued to kiss her, delighting in the little breathy moans that escaped her partner.

“Five years, and I still know what turns you on,” she whispered smugly.

“Shut up and kiss me, you fool,” Lana breathed, reaching up and taking the nape of her neck as she pressed her lips to Raelyn’s.

Her holocomm beeped.

Raelyn ignored it, very pointedly pulling at Lana’s lower lip and kissing her even more hungrily.

Her holocomm beeped again, and this time, so did Lana’s.

Raelyn hurled hers across the room with an outstretched hand and more Force than she anticipated. It clattered against the wall and fell to the floor with a _cah-thunk_.

“Very smooth,” Lana replied wryly, but she’d already pressed her hand to Raelyn’s chest to stop her from continuing.

She fell back in a heap with a groan.

Lana shook her head again, “There’s no need to be so melodramatic. It’s probably just Maraalor having a minor heart attack about missing your appointment this morning.”

“That definitely isn’t until tomorrow.”

Lana shrugged and answered the holocomm, “Beniko.”

“Lana, Raelyn, we need you in the War Room,” Kalina said, far more worried than she normally displayed, “Arcann’s struck back.”

There was a twinge in the back of Raelyn’s head, and she winced.

“ _Fuck_ ,” she muttered, sitting up next to her partner on the edge of the bed, “What’s happening?”

Kalina shook her head, “We’ll fill you in when you get here. Get dressed, but hurry.”

“We’ll be there in five,” Lana replied, ending the call and turning up the lights in the room. All thoughts of continuing their early morning affair were long gone.

They were there in four minutes.

The War Room was a flurry of activity as analysts and techs relayed information, calls were flooding in from outside agents, and dozens of news reports were flying in all at once. And in the middle of everything was Kalina, leaning against her staff and holding it with both hands, looking at a report that someone had put in front of her while also talking to the holo-image of Raj. Theron was at the terminal next to her with a cup of caf in one hand and a datapad in the other, and upon seeing the two Sith enter, gave his datapad to another agent and waved them over to him and the Jedi.

“Glad you’re here,” he said quickly, “Arcann’s decided he’s played enough games apparently.”

Raelyn looked around wildly, trying to take in everything that was going on, reaching for Lana’s hand for a semblance of stability. She took it without hesitating.

“Five planets have been attacked outright,” Kalina explained, “Rishi and Jurio have already been razed by the Eternal Fleet, Manaan has begun evacuating, Ryloth has gone underground, and Umbara, well-”

Raj waved, “It’s not great! But Koth and I are handling it.”

“Any word from Vette?” Raelyn asked.

Kalina nodded, “She and Jaesa are fine - the cliffs of Ryloth have sustained worse damage than this. For now they’re waiting out the bombardment, but we have ships standing by to get them out when they’re ready to evacuate.”

“And we know this is Arcann?”

Theron nodded, “He sent out the orders. Gave them all one standard day to give up the your location, and said he was going to destroy them all if no one came forward.”

Lana exhaled in frustration, “Evidently he saw it fit to follow through on that.”

There was another twinge in the back of Raelyn’s head and she put a hand to it. Kalina and Lana noticed immediately and silently asked her if she was alright, but she shook them off.

Theron continued, “We need to respond somehow.”

“Whoa!” Raj hollered as his image faltered and stabilized again, but his eyes were on the dashboard rather than the call, “Shit! That was too close!”

“I’m working on it!” Koth replied out of the frame.

“You guys alright? What’s going on?” Raelyn asked, needing to focus on anything that wasn’t the fear and pain in the back of her mind.

“Uh, yeah, you know how we said Umbara wasn’t great?” Raj replied, still preoccupied with his own ship, “It’s definitely in the middle of being bombarded by Arcann’s fleet. Koth and I have taken on as many refugees as will fit in my ship, but we’re uh… we’re still getting out of range of the Zakuulan ships.”

“Once we heard the attacks were happening, I called them,” Kalina explained, “No word from our contacts on Jurio or Rishi, though.”

“Commander,” a tech called from the other side of the room, “we have eyes on the ground on Jurio.”

Raj’s image shrunk and slid to the left as the news footage came up. Scenes flipped from burning villages to flattened skylines to ashen remains to decimated forests. Bombs rained down, skytroopers went through with flamethrowers and rifles, Knights rounded up the survivors into groups and guarded them. Women comforted children who were not their own, teenagers acted as impromptu medics, and cities that were once vibrant were now gone. Even without sound, the destruction and the terror rang out loud and clear. Every person in the War Room stopped what they were doing and watched the reports in silence.

The magnitude of it all came crashing down on her all at once.

The pain in her head came back, this time with a familiar and sinister voice.

_My son will stop at nothing to defeat you. You must become stronger._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annnd here we are! Thanks again to the lovely and amazing Defira for help with setting up and planning the wedding! And thanks to all of you for being so patient with me and my writing habits! <3


	9. Disavowed

“Theron,” Aoide greeted with a small nod, “your message was vague. What do you need?”

The former Republic spy barely looked up from his data terminal, “My contacts have a lead to pursue in response to Arcann’s bombings, thought you might like a hand in taking the first strike back.”

She frowned, “I thought we already sent aid to those worlds?”

Theron nodded, “We did. But it just so happens we have some new allies in position to take a direct offensive strategy.”

She folded her arms over her chest, “What are you getting at, Theron? Why are you being so cagey? Do Raelyn and Kalina know about this?”

He put his hands up in front of him defensively, “Whoa, whoa, easy! Yes, Raelyn and Kalina know. But due to the nature of who our contacts are, it’s best if as few people as possible know who they are before we officially welcome them into the Alliance.”

“And despite the fact that you won’t tell me who they are, you think I’m the person to contact them directly?” she asked, still unconvinced.

He nodded, a little smirk in the corner of his mouth, “I think you’d be a particularly welcome sight for them.”

She sighed and put her hand to her forehead, shaking it slowly, “Can you at least tell me _where_ I would be going?”

“Xala - a swamp planet out on the other side of Zakuul. One of the first planets the Eternal Empire conquered in Valkorion’s early days. Rumor has it that there are a number of Zakuulans living in exile out there who’d love to help the Alliance, but its atmosphere is pretty impenetrable for holo frequencies. Makes it ideal to shove political agitators and rabble rousers. Given the nature of propaganda on Zakuul, it’s possible nobody out there even knows that we exist.”

Aoide just eyed him, “And yet you sent a team not actually affiliated with the Alliance out there to what? Bring them the good news?”

Theron coughed, “Hey, hey, I sent no one out there! Our contacts got ahold of someone in SIS, who forwarded the message to me. They were already planet-side, _of their own volition_ before I even knew they were in our neck of the galaxy.”

“I still don’t know why you need me out there,” she argued, “What are they even doing on Xala?”

Theron shrugged, “The details were few, but from what I can gather, they’re basically planning on starting a little war out there. They’re going off the grid and AWOL, which is basically treason.”

“How many of them are there, that they’re planning on starting a war?”

“Like I said,” he reiterated, though not as defensively as before, “the details are shoddy, but there are more than a handful of them. A squadron of some kind.”

She exhaled sharply through her nose, “I thought you wanted me to help with a direct offensive strategy. Not sure how successful that’ll be if I don’t know who I’m working with. Or the scope of the assault.”

Theron nodded, “I’m sure you can figure out the details pretty quickly when you get there. But we need an official Alliance presence there, someone who take the blame for the retaliation and also has the ability to strategize on the fly without a whole lot of backup. The faster we get back at Arcann, the better, but the Alliance isn’t in a place where we’re ready for a full-scale assault on anything yet.”

She had to admit, he did have a point there. Aoide had been livid when she saw the news - she’d been angrier than the day she and Aric had rescued the last of the Deadeyes. Angrier than she had been when Saresh had ripped apart all that they’d worked for. Angry that millions of people were dying for no reason other than to placate Arcann’s temper. That asshole was going to pay for what he did. But the Alliance wasn’t ready yet.

And she couldn’t even talk to Aric about it. Ancestors above, she missed him. And he’d been on radio silence for the last month - nothing she was worried about, he’d gone radio silent a handful of times in the last five years, but to not even be able to send him a message about it made everything more difficult. She’d taken her frustrations out on a combat training dummy instead.

She sighed, resigned, “And I suppose you already have a shuttle waiting for me?”

Theron grinned, “You got it, Commander. I’m willing to bet you’ve already got a bag packed and can head out in ten.”

“I do have four children who should be warned and taken care of,” she replied.

“Fifteen then,” he offered lightly.

Aoide shook her head, “I better not regret trusting you and your spy buddies on this, Theron.”

He just laughed, “Oh, you won’t, I can guarantee that.”

\---

Felix woke up screaming, bolting upright, out of breath and clutching his clothes in the dark.

Kalina sat up next to him and put her hand on his, “You’re alright, Felix. It was just a nightmare, you’re okay. I’m here.”

She held out her hand and gently lifted the lights in the room, shifting on the bed so she could get a better angle on her husband. He moved one of his hands over hers and held it tightly as she murmured gently to him. He was sweating and trembling against her, so terrified still that he couldn’t even open his eyes.

“Felix, my love,” she called to him, putting her other hand on his back and rubbing circles with her palm, “you’re alright.”

He shook his head, voice breathy, “Stars, it felt so _real_ though.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked, shifting her legs as they started to ache.

“Maybe in a minute,” he said, leaning against her as he still worked to catch his breath.

There was a little knock on the door before it slid open, revealing a little redheaded girl in the dark kitchen, holding a stuffed sleen to her chest.

“Papa?” Rhian asked, rubbing at her eyes.

“Oh, stars, I’m sorry, Rhi,” he apologized, sliding out of the covers and gathering her in his arms before he brought both of them back onto the bed, “Did I wake you?”

She nodded, “It’s okay, though. I brought you Sleeny. She’s the best as chasing away bad dreams.”

He took the stuffed toy gently and kissed the top of her head, enveloping her entire body in a hug as he tried not to cry, “Thanks, kiddo.”

She hugged him tightly, “I love you, Papa.”

“I love you, too,” he replied, setting her back on the bed, “Are you sure you don’t need Sleeny? You won’t have bad dreams if she’s with me?”

She shrugged, “I’ve got Wampy and Sleeny Junior and Nexu Boy to protect me.”

Felix let out a little laugh, and stars, did that make Kalina’s own flutter. His laugh was so joyous, so bright, and so sincere. She could feel his rampant fear still, but to hear him laugh relaxed about every muscle in her body.

“I’m sorry I woke you, kiddo,” he said, pressing another kiss to her forehead, “do you want to stay with us until you fall asleep again? Or do you want to go back to your own bed?”

“I’ll go back,” she replied sleepily, “the boys miss me anyway.”

“Wampy and Nexu Boy?”

“Mhmm.”

Felix chuckled again as Rhian jumped off the bed and shuffled her way back into the kitchen before she opened the door to her own room.

“I love that kid,” he murmured as he leaned back against Kalina, pressing the toy to his chest.

“She’s got a good heart in her, that’s for sure,” she replied, returning to rubbing circles on his back.

They sat there for a few moments in the quiet, listening to the faint hum of the lights and to each other’s heart beats. Felix held her hand again and closed his eyes as they breathed together.

“Felix, are you alright?” Kalina asked again.

“I’m here with you, aren’t I?”

She shook her head, “Not what I meant. It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it.”

He sat up and faced her, his hands starting to tremble again, “No, no I should talk about it. Something isn’t right. I don’t know what it is, but I know it’s got something to do with this thing in my head.”

“How do you know that?”

He squeezed his eyes shut and she rubbed her thumbs over his. He took a deep inhale before he spoke, “Every time I fall asleep, I have nightmares. Laboratories, technicians, scientists. All of them trying to find ways to get the holocron out of my head. Some of them think they should just kill me and then open me up. Others insist that if I die, the holocron does, too. They plot and plan the ways they’ll extract it, while I’m strapped to a table next to them, completely paralyzed.”

Felix took one hand out of Kalina’s to rub his eyes while he breathed again. She didn’t rush him.

“Usually I wake up as the scalpels are coming out, but not tonight. I felt _everything_. It was like something out of a horror holo.”

Kalina paused for a moment before she replied, waiting to see if he had anything else to say. And when she looked into his eyes and still saw the fear lingering there, she wished she could just take him away from all this.

“Do you remember anything about your surroundings?” she asked gently.

He shrugged, “Standard hospital laboratory, as far as I could tell. Operating tables, stasis chambers, cabinets of supplies. But there was a cell in the middle of the room. I never saw who was in it, but there was a bed and a table, and a little wooden toy. Like something Rhian would play with.”

Kalina frowned, “You never saw outside the lab?”

He shook his head, “No. No clue how I got there or what planet I was on. If I was even on a planet.”

His chest started to heave a little as he fought to control his breathing, so she leaned forward and kissed him.

“I love you, Felix Iresso,” she declared in a whisper, “And I promise that no one will hurt you. Not in a lab, not for the holocron in your head, not for anything.”

Felix replied by wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close.

\---

Even from space, Xala looked like a pretty miserable little planet. Aoide wondered why Zakuul even bothered to colonize it, given the atmospheric clouds and storms were so thick she couldn’t get any sort of reading on what was down there. The clouds were a gray-green color, circular patterns of lightning storms raged black. It must have been pitch dark down there before Zakuul built any kind of infrastructure.

From the reports of Xala’s history, Zakuul had colonized it shortly after Valkorion declared the Old Gods heresy. It started as a sort of prison work colony, where skeptics and rebels were chosen “at random” to go out and work in the caves to mine for metals needed to build up the Spire. But once the Spire was finished, Xala and its people were basically left to their own devices under three stipulations: they pay a tribute to Zakuul, they have no officiating government of their own (and were thus under the rule of the Exarchs), and under no circumstances were they to leave the planet. There were all sorts of rules in regards to the last one. The mines were shut down, the skies patrolled by sky troopers, the people kept out of frequency range. Only one person had a holofrequency that made it back to Zakuul, and that was the Exarch. According to official records, Arcann himself had only visited Xala twice - once with his brother Thexan before they left to conquer the known galaxy, and once as Emperor to secure his reign and install a hand-chosen Exarch.

Both times had ended with riots.

Xala-Zakuulans held bitter grudges, it seemed - grudges that surpassed the death of an emperor. Which was fair.

Aoide sent one last message back to Odessen before she powered down communications. They wouldn’t do her any good here, anyway, and would really only serve as a beacon to her location. Very few ships actually descended to Xala proper, and one flashing a signal back to the rest of the galaxy would show up on any radar like a lightbulb in a dark room.

So she double checked the rendezvous coordinates Theron had given her, reached back for her assault cannon, swore revenge if she was sent on a wild bantha chase, and pushed her tiny shuttle through the atmosphere of Xala. For nearly a kilometer she could see nothing but ashen clouds around her, praying that her proximity measures were unaffected by it, but still feeling the density of the atmosphere dragging and slowing her shuttle.

Thirty seconds later, she emerged and saw the planet below her for the first time.

Oddly enough, it more or less resembled the Endless Swamps of Zakuul itself, but with an underlying shade of cyan that lit up the dark landscape. Towering trees reached far into the sky, interconnected hut communities weaved over the visible terrain, lakes and oceans overtook vast swathes of the planet, and the rest was covered in dirt and mud. There were a few more concentrated communities, though she hesitated to call them cities - clearly one was the compound intended for the Exarch, but there was another maybe another twenty kilometers away, that didn’t look like it belonged with the rest of the landscape. Another failed planned community perhaps? Or the original workers complex?

She could see a skytrooper pod headed in her direction, cutting short her observations as she navigated into the dense forest.

Despite the lack of starlight, the swamps were incredibly lush and green. As she lowered the shuttle, she could see that most houses and trees were covered in a layer of moss, with blue biofluorescent fungi as the source of light that washed over everything in the swamps, even as yellow artificial light emanated from the Exarch compound. Even the old mining equipment was covered in the blue stuff as it lay dormant on the swamp floor, unused since the Spire was completed centuries ago.

She checked behind her, making sure she hadn’t been seen by the patrols. Nothing. The biggest danger to her were the trees that cropped up everywhere. Aoide was a serviceable pilot, but she’d learned on the job and didn’t have a ton of experience in tight spaces.

Well, so long as the skytroopers left her alone, she could take her time. She wasn’t due at the rendezvous site for another hour or so.

So she wove her way through the trees, mapped the villages in her mind. Most of them were simply clusters of houses, made entirely with local materials. They were built into the existing landscape in clusters of trees or into cliffs or in a single layer on the ground beside a body of water. Houses were connected by wooden bridges, and the villages were connected similarly. They’d built wooden pathways through the swamp, though mostly those just consisted of planks on the ground without any real structure. Clearly, some were falling into disrepair, but the more traveled ones appeared to be taken care of by someone. Or _something_ , knowing how Zakuulans preferred their daily tasks be performed by droids.

Aoide put the shuttle down about a kilometer from the coordinates, in a little patch of dirt that wasn’t very noticeable from above, but gave her multiple routes for escape.

She patted her astromech droid affectionately, and slung her assault cannon over her shoulder as she jumped to the ground. It felt good to have actual dirt beneath her feet again, even if the mud on Xala squelched under her boots.

It didn’t take long to reach the coordinates Theron gave her, and even as she entered into a small grove, she heard a painfully familiar voice from the shadows.

“Aoide? Is that really you, sir?”

Her hearts stopped in her chest, and despite her best efforts, she felt her throat start to choke up, “ _Aric_. It’s good to hear your voice.”

“Stand down, Havoc,” he said, aloud but clearly not to her.

Out of the trees came six Special Forces members - two humans, a Qel-Dor, a Khaleesh, a Twi’lek, and a rusty-colored Cathar. Aric Jorgan.

Aric threw his sniper rifle over his shoulder and saluted, but his quiet voice betrayed all the relief and surprise he held back, “It’s _really_ damn good to see you again.”

Aoide shook her head, “Don’t you go around saluting me, Jorgan.”

But she quickly and unceremoniously dropped her cannon to the ground and embraced him. He came up to her nose, and the short hairs on his head tickled. He breathed against her neck and wrapped his arms around her tightly. They were never known for their public displays of affection, but being separated for five years had taken its toll on both of them. And dammit, she deserved this. Both of them deserved this.

“ _New secret allies_ , my ass. We’re agreeing to murder Theron on sight when we see him again, right?”

“And Balkar,” he added, “Bastard thought it would compromise the entire mission to tell me who he was sending.”

One of his squadmates coughed uncomfortably behind him, and with a silent nod, they separated.

“Right, to business then,” Aric resumed, every ounce the commanding officer Aoide was proud of, “We’re putting together an op to finally start giving to the Zakuulans as good as we’ve been getting. If you want in, we could certainly use your help.”

She picked up her assault cannon off the ground, “Wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t. What do you need?”

Before he could even open his mouth to explain, a skytrooper patrol swerved above them. They all ducked instinctively, but it didn’t take more than a few seconds for them to hear the sound of hatches releasing and droids descending upon them.

Aric growled, “Your landing didn’t go unnoticed.”

In the same tone, at the same time, Aoide snarled, “Kriffin hell.”

She aimed her cannon for the ship’s engines and let out a few rounds, watching as it descended in a spiral off about fifty meters from where everyone else stood. A swirl of debris and mud came up from the ground and buried a few of the closest skytroopers, making them easy pickings for the Khaleesh of Aric’s squad.

She turned around to the rest of the commotion, laying down cover fire to draw attention away from the Twi’lek and male human, who had been most at risk of being overrun. The Qel-Dor and human female had clambered up a tree and were picking off the skytroopers closest to their squadmates. Aric, unsurprisingly, was grumbling his way through droid after droid without missing a shot. It made her whole body tingle just to watch.

After maybe ten minutes of nonstop gunfire, Aric drilled the last one in the face and all seven of them watched it buckle and collapse before releasing a little explosion ten meters from their position.

Aric slung his sniper rifle over his shoulder, “That won’t be the last of them. Dengril, Xaban, split north. Abbath, Torg, south. Kanner, take the fastest route you can back to camp - our friends may need some help if these skytroopers come looking for them. We’ll all meet you back there. Aoide and I will cover the retreat. Just like old times.”

“Been awhile since I’ve taken your orders, Jorgan,” Aoide remarked with a smirk as the others just went out of earshot, “I might be rusty.”

Aric chuckled, “just don’t let the new blood show you up. We’ve got a reputation to maintain.”

She let him take the lead through the swampy forest, following him closely as they made meandering circles and wide curves. He knew the terrain far better than she did - by her count, Havoc had been on Xala for nearly three weeks before Theron sent her. More than enough time for someone as seasoned and smart as Aric Jorgan to get a layout of the whole area.

They climbed to the top of a cliff and he stopped, “Here, watch my six while I cover the retreat.”

“Yes, sir,” she replied, crouching down behind him, putting a hand on the ground beside his leg.

They sat in silence for a moment as Aric focused his scope and did a visual sweep of the area.

“What’s your assessment of the new emperor? You didn’t talk much about your work in our messages,” he said, pulling the trigger three times. She heard three little explosions in the distance.

“He’s an arrogant bastard,” Aoide replied, “he has the patience and the temper of a child, and the arsenal of a galactic power.”

She paused for a moment, let Aric rip off another three shots before she continued, “But he’s also a victim in all this. He’s been trained as a killer and a murderer his whole life. His father ensured he’d be this way. His siblings, too.”

“He’s got a lot to answer for still,” Aric noted.

“Not arguing that at all,” she replied.

He picked himself up and motioned for her to follow to his next vantage point.

“Nothing but despots left in this galaxy,” he snarled, “The Republic you fought for doesn’t exist. We gave the reins over to people who don’t care how we win, just so long as we do. Saresh is all but a dictator now. Never thought I’d miss bureaucrats butting into military matters, but what we gained in efficiency, we lost in soul.”

Aoide put her hand on his shoulder and stopped him, “Why not join the Alliance directly, Aric? Why are you out here on a backwater mining colony alone taking on Zakuul? Why the radio silence with me?”

Aric turned around and looked her in the eyes, but his nose twitched, “I know you would have taken us without question. I guess it wasn’t until I saw Zakuul’s actions in person that I fully realized what kind of threat we were ignoring back home. I still hoped that the Republic would see what we did, and Saresh would change her mind and send out a fleet to stop Arcann. Should have known that would never happen.”

He turned around again and laid on the rocks, eye to the scope of his rifle. Aoide knelt down behind him again.

She put her hand on his calf this time.

A moment later, he popped back up, “Think we’re safe to head back to camp, let’s go.”

“Lead the way, Major.”

\---

The War Room was busier than usual that morning - reports were flying in about the extent of Arcann’s destruction, the location of Commander Aoide and Havoc Squad, Saresh’s and Acina’s renewed declarations against each other.

Arcann, at least, had finally pulled his fleets back from Ryloth, Jurio, and Rishi. Manaan was settling for a Star Fortress in their skies instead of the Eternal Fleet ships. And poor Umbara was still being pelted in response to word getting out that Raj and Koth had smuggled out nearly a hundred refugees.

A hundred refugees had slipped out and Arcann responded by killing hundreds of thousands more of them. Raj and Koth were understandably crushed.

There was a pricking in Raelyn’s head. Valkorion had shown himself days earlier and hadn’t shut up since, but she’d been marginally successful at relegating his ranting to the back of her head so she could focus on the work that needed to be done.

She stretched her neck to work out whatever he was doing, and found herself looking right at Felix.

Which was odd, since he wasn’t usually part of the War Room gang.

He hung beside Kalina, a datapad in his hands, but his thoughts obviously wandering. His Jedi wife put a hand on his arm to draw his attention back and asked him a question to realign him on a task.

Her headache receded, and she took the opportunity to resume her analysis of Arcann’s diplomacy with Manaan. But as soon as her head went back down to the datapad, a searing pain went across her forehead and she put a hand to it.

Lana noticed, “Raelyn? Everything alright?”

She put the datapad down and shook her head. It didn’t take long to feel the cool hand of her partner on top of hers, sending healing tendrils of the Force through her.

“Is that helping any?” Lana asked, “My father always cautioned against using the Force for matters that could be healed by modern medicine, but well… he isn’t here to tsk at me, now is he?”

Raelyn couldn’t help but smile a little, despite the fact that the headache raged on.

Valkorion pricked at her again, tugged her almost physically to her right. She pushed her hands and Lana’s off her face and looked at what he was signaling to.

Felix?

This time, the former Lieutenant turned around and made eye-contact with her. And at the same time, both of them jumped and realized the same thing.

“Oh gods, he wants Felix.”

“What? Why? How do you know that?” Lana asked incredulously, but Raelyn just took her by the hand and dragged her over to Kalina.

She whispered a few words in her ear so as not to alarm everyone else in the room, and led Lana by the hand out of the War Room and into the fresh air of the landing pads before continuing into one of the private rooms in the cantina.

It was still a bit early for lunch, so there were only a few Alliance members milling around the place.

Lana, to her credit, didn’t ask Raelyn to clarify as they speed-walked through the base.

_Alright, Old Man, I’m listening now, why the fuck do you want my best friend’s husband? To upset me emotionally? Is this just to torment me?_

_He has something of mine. Something personal and important._

_Excuse me?_

_Ask your dear Barsen’thor when she arrives. I’ll not interfere._

She physically felt him melt away into her subconscious and shivered.

Kalina and Felix joined them not a moment later.

“Raelyn, what’s going on? You said Valkorion wants Felix? What does he want from him?” she asked, looking far more worried than normal. They were running a galactic alliance, fighting the galaxy’s largest threats, and she looked far more worried about the health of her husband than anything else that was going on.

Raelyn looked to Lana and couldn’t blame Kalina even a little bit.

“I actually might know the answer to that,” Felix replied a little sheepishly.

“He says you have something of his? What does that mean?” Raelyn asked.

Kalina looked up into her husband’s rich, dark eyes and whispered, “The holocron...”

“You two have a holocron that belonged to Valkorion and didn’t think to tell anyone? Didn’t think this would help our efforts?” Lana accused, though her voice dropped low.

Felix shook his head, “ _I_ have the holocron, and not exactly. About a decade ago, I was kidnapped by some Sith Lord’s lackeys and experimented on. I have no recollection of the actual events, but at some point in my travels with Kalina, I started to do some research about what happened to me. Figured out that a team of doctors attached to said Sith Lord managed to imprint a holocron into my brain somehow. I don’t have access to any of its knowledge, but no doubt Valkorion knows it’s there.”

Kalina visibly squeezed his arm.

Lana looked taken aback, “How would one even go about doing that? And why? The holocron is essentially useless now if you can’t recall it. Unless there were some notes on how they implanted it that we could reverse…”

“Whoa, whoa,” Kalina interjected, “I’d rather not operate on my husband’s brain if we could. I am all for saving the galaxy, but I’ll not sacrifice him.”

Felix nodded, “Yeah, I’m with her. I like having my head intact, thanks. And if the weird dreams I’ve been having are any indication, taking apart my head is basically the only way to get at the holocron’s information directly.”

Raelyn raised an eyebrow, “You say that as if you have some alternatives to accessing it _indirectly_.”

“I’m not sure about that, either,” Felix admitted, “But I have done some research and figured out a few things. Darth Ouzal was the Sith who ordered for the experiments to be done. He’s long dead now - was assassinated by his own apprentice only a couple weeks after I was let free - but he did a lot of research in conjunction with the Imperial Reclamation Service. Few people were ever told what he was researching. He was a cagey bastard, apparently, and highly suspicious that anyone would steal his research. Hence the holocron in some random Pub cadet’s head, I suppose.”

Kalina put a hand on his bicep, keeping her eyes on his.

Felix gave her a little smile and continued, “Anyway, all I could find out was that Ouzal apparently had a thing for Revan - the real one, not that psycho with the cult following on Yavin IV - and scampered at any chance he had to get his hands on her artifacts.”

Lana crossed her arms over her chest, “Any chance our former Imperial Reclamation Service Officer worked for him, you think?”

“Talos? Maybe,” Kalina replied, “Certainly would be worth asking him. Even if he didn’t work for Ouzal directly, he probably knows someone who did.”

Raelyn nodded, “Valkorion says the holocron belongs to him, though? And last I knew, he wasn’t Revan. Perhaps Ouzal had another passion at the end of his life?”

“That’s doubtful,” Felix said, “I haven’t found anything about any other obsession. But I suppose it’s possible, or he was just testing with Valkorion’s holocron before he went through with one of Revan.”

“Then perhaps we ought to enlist the help of Darth Nox to look into this further,” Lana offered, “She and Talos Drellik worked together for a time, as well, yes? As the Overseer of Ancient Knowledge, she’s also best equipped for such a mystery.”

Everyone seemed in agreement with that - Messalina needed something exciting to do anyway, and sending her out also meant that Raelyn, and by extension Valkorion, wouldn’t necessarily know everything.

She refused to eschew her duties to the Alliance because of him, but if this holocron was the break they needed… well, she could survive without that knowledge for awhile.

\---

There wasn’t really sunlight on Xala. The heavy atmospheric clouds basically blocked whatever light there was that would have shone through the overhanging trees. But there was a distinctive dawn nonetheless. The luminescent fungi seemed to glow brighter, almost pulsating as a heartbeat in the early hours. The wildlife awoke from their sleep, and the chirping of insects was replacing by the chirping of avians. The trees seemed to reach higher in the day, spreading their leaves to gather as many nutrients in the air as possible.

Aoide sat at the desk beside her cot with one mug of caf in her hands, and one on the desk beside her. At some point after midnight she and Aric had fallen asleep in each others arms, but not after a considerable amount of planning for their attack the next day.

Aric emerged out of the makeshift refresher in his Havoc armor, pulling up his gauntlets as he went.

“Is that caf?” he asked, nose twitching as he picked up the mug and brought it to his lips.

“Just the way you like it,” she replied with a grin.

He closed his eyes and a low rumbling came from his chest subconsciously, “Mmm I love you.”

“Love you too, babe.”

He looked at the chronometer on his wrist, and grumbled, “Oh-six-fifty-seven. Don’t even have enough time to truly enjoy one of the galaxy’s few wonders.”

Aoide bit back a laugh and kissed him, “If we survive the day, there will always be more caf.”

“Well, then we’d better make sure we survive.”

They exited their personal tent and made for the more official setup in the middle of their camp. Kanner and Xaban were already there, along with the local village leader - a tall, dark-skinned man named Pashna. In their late-night strategizing, Aric had described Pashna and his people, though this was the first time Aoide had seen him.

Kanner and Xaban immediately saluted their commanding officer.

“Good morning, sir,” Kanner greeted, gruff and direct, “Dengril and Abbeth are doing a perimeter check. Torg is checking inventory. All of them should be back within the next ninety seconds.”

“Good,” Aric replied brusquely, “Good work, Kanner.”

If the compliment affected her, she didn’t show it.

Sure enough, though, the three remaining Havoc Squad members came jogging over and stood at the table with everyone else just as 0700 hit.

“Everyone doing alright?” Aric began, “Any physical or emotional issues we need to address before we start?”

A chorus of “No, sir” went around the table. He looked at Aoide, who shook her head. All things considered, she was remarkably glad to be where she was in this moment.

“Good, let’s start,” he continued, laying out their objectives and tactics for the attack.

The first goal, of course, was to send Arcann a message. A message that his own people will not lay down and submit just because he wants them to. A message that his people will rise against him for the things he’s done. A message that the Alliance will help anyone they can in their quests to defy Arcann.

To do that, they would need to accomplish goal number two: overthrow - and likely kill - the Exarch ruling over Xala. The settlers on Xala had already worked out their new government, apparently, so old soldiers like Aoide wouldn’t need to worry about that, at least.

Accomplishing goal number two would then also accomplish goal number three: give the Xala-Zakuulans access back out into the rest of the galaxy. Since the Exarch was the only one with a communications terminal strong enough to reach through the damn atmosphere, deposing him would allow the Xala-Zakuulans to take control over that again.

Tactically, this meant that Havoc would have to do most of the hard-hitting, as the settlers weren’t equipped with or trained for weapons of any kind. They would swoop in at the end and claim the governance of their lands, but Havoc would storm and take the Exarch’s compound.

The compound itself was surrounded by thick duracrete walls, laid down as the first settlement on Xala, and then reinforced by the metals from the planet’s mines. These walls were patrolled by the Zakuulan Knights of the planet. The first step was to get over those walls without a lot of noise.

The second step was to take out as many skytrooper patrols as possible without giving away their position inside the compound. This would keep any backup from coming to the Exarch’s aid.

The third step, which was really a step concurrent with the second, was to infiltrate the compound, and force the Exarch to surrender. Depending on his answer, he would be shoved into a jail cell before the Alliance could come in and take him back to Odessen, or he would be shot on sight. Aoide and Aric decided to take on the Exarch, as they had more experience than everyone else combined, and as a Commander of the Alliance and the Commanding Officer of Havoc Squad, it would ceremonially be important that they were there when Pashna was handed the keys to the compound.

They borrowed speeders from the settlers and rode until they were about a kilometer from the compound before they dismounted and walked through the dense underbrush. Aric and Xaban were tasked with killing the Knights that guarded the wall. So the two of them climbed up one of the trees and aimed carefully. The other five crept up to the wall, hiding in its shadow as they waited for Aric to signal them.

It didn’t take more than a few minutes before she heard his voice in her ear, “All clear. I’m on my way over. Xaban will keep a lookout. You all start getting those grappling hooks over.”

“On it, sir,” Kanner replied automatically.

They shot up hooks with crossbows, tugging on them to make sure they had latched onto the duracrete strongly enough.

Abbeth hit his crossbow to his thigh a couple times in frustration, and looked over to Aoide. She handed him her rope and inspected the instrument before quickly deciding it was useless and yanking the hook and rope out of the machine.

“Everyone up?” she asked into her mic.

“Affirmative, sir,” Kanner replied, “Just waiting on you and Major Jorgan.”

“You might want to keep your heads down,” she warned before she threw the grappling hook up the wall and tugged on it smugly.

“Goddamn, woman,” Aric commented from behind her, very clearly not through the earpiece this time, “You could’ve waited until we were done before you started showing off.”

Aoide grinned and chuckled, “Where’s the fun in that? Turning you on _after_ a fight? When have I ever?”

He gave her a low growl as a reply before he ascended the wall, Aoide not far behind him on her own rope.

Abbeth and Torg were there to haul them up on top. Kanner had her rifle out already, scanning the ground below them.

“We’ve got about thirty seconds before the patrol comes back around,” she said shortly, “best get moving if we want to surprise them down there.”

“Affirmative,” Aric replied, as they all swung their ropes over to the other side of the wall and rappelled down.

Step one: complete.

It was short work to short-circuit the skytroopers that made their way around the corner of the nearest building, and the group of them collapsed as an ion grenade exploded between them.

“Excellent work, Torg,” Aric praised sincerely.

Aoide pulled her assault cannon off her shoulder, “I’m guessing that explosion didn’t go unnoticed. We should split up and go before more of them come back.”

“Already on it,” Dengril replied as he and Abbeth took off towards the north, and Kanner and Torg went south.

Which left Aoide and Aric to take on the Exarch’s central headquarters.

They darted through the compound, making use of the deep shadows to keep themselves hidden. The others needed to cause a commotion and draw guards away from the Exarch, but Aric and Aoide had to sneak in - not either one of their strong suits.

“Wish I had a better vantage point,” Aric grumbled at one point.

Despite the fact that the Exarch’s compound was the only place on the planet that still had working electricity, it really was not very brightly lit on the outside. There were four or five floodlights that were meant to cover the entire base, but every single one had some lights out, which left huge swaths completely in the dark.

Actually the compound itself seemed pretty decrepit - there were a few defunct manufacturing plants that were laying desolate. Lots of empty shipping containers put down haphazardly. Even most of the equipment looked like it was broken.

If the settlers weren’t adamant about the fact that the Exarch demanded they come to his compound once a month to pay tribute to him and to Arcann, Aoide might not have been sure there was an Exarch here at all. Surely he noticed that his compound was in complete disarray? Surely he felt that might have been a threat to security?

The two of them ascended the stairs to the Exarch’s personal headquarters - the only building that was fully lit inside and out. There was a skytrooper cleaning the tall glass windows on the second floor, and even from outside it was clear that what the rest of the compound lacked, the inside of this building more than made up for in luxury and decadence.

“Good grief,” was all Aric said as they peeked into the windows.

Another explosion went off in the distance, and not a moment later, a patrol of skytroopers came running out of the building.

Aoide and Aric held their breath beside the door, and as soon as they were gone, they slipped into the building unnoticed.

“Ah, it looks like we’ve let in a few vermin,” came a booming voice as soon as they stood in the elegant hallway. The Exarch himself was a tall, thin man. He actually looked rather green and sickly from where they stood, but beneath that facade, Aoide knew he was likely the single most powerful being on this planet. He stood on the open balcony, at the top of a double set of polished stone stairs, hands out grandly to his sides, “Welcome to my home. I fear you’ll not see it long, so do take it in for as long as you can.”

Seemingly from the walls came four enormous charcoal gray skytroopers, each with a rifle and shielded.

“My outer defenses are merely for show. Life on this planet is so incredibly dull, I prefer to deal with any intrusion on my own grounds personally,” he continued, and Aoide half thought to shoot him then and there, “But you’ll find that my personal skytroopers are made of the finest metals Xala still has left to offer. Nearly as impenetrable as the Mandalorian beskar, and just as durable.”

Aoide leaned over to Aric, “Any last words?”

Aric readied his rifle, “Can that garbage! And… I love you.”

At that moment dozens of windows shattered as ion grenades were thrown against the building. The skytroopers started firing wildly, and Aric and Aoide dove for cover behind some sturdy-looking couches.

Aric yelled into his earpiece, “Who the hell did that?”

“Wasn’t us,” Kanner replied, “We’ve got our fair share of droids up here.”

“Same here,” Abbeth added.

“Xaban, who the hell got in the compound?”

Aoide poked her cannon out from the side of the couch as blaster bolts hailed all around them, “This is hardly the time to point fingers, Aric!”

The Exarch made some mildly annoyed noise from the second floor before he jumped down and flattened everything with a plane of Force.

“Here, naughty kitty kitty kitty,” he taunted, his voice crystal clear through the remaining bolts, “Ah, here you are.”

He sent a punch through the sofa Aric hid behind, sending both the furniture and the soldier careening into the wall.

“ _Oh, fuck you_ ,” Aoide snarled, immediately jumping up and laying down cover fire in case one of the skytroopers decided to get up. One psychopath was more than enough.

The Exarch threw up a shield around him and laughed a horrible, ugly laugh, “You think your pathetic little blaster bolts will hurt me? I am Exarch Junper Leviath! And I will be your end!”

He ran at her with his hands extended in front of him. Goddamn Force-users. Cocky bastards, the lot of them.

She dropped her assault cannon to her side and held the handle with both hands, taking a backswing before she hurled it forward like a bat, colliding with the Exarch’s face before his hands could reach her. Blood spattered behind him as he went skidding across the floor, colliding into broken glass tables, heavy metal chairs, and scratchy rugs as he went.

Aoide immediately threw down her weapon and hurried to the corner where Aric had landed, visions of the Gauntlet haunting her as she pushed aside the sofa.

“Ugh, thanks,” Aric muttered as she knelt beside him.

She took his hand in hers, “You alright?”

“I’m fine,” he replied gruffly, “just got the wind knocked out of me.”

He looked over at her bloodied assault cannon and then at the Exarch who laid unconscious on the other side of the room.

“Did you… hit him in the face with your cannon?” he asked with a grunt, “Or am I actually concussed?”

She laughed and helped haul him to his feet, “You are correct. He wouldn’t listen to reason.”

“Kinda sad I missed it,” he replied, holding onto her hand for a moment longer than he needed to.

“I thought we might not make it,” Pashna said from the door, another ion grenade in his hand, though it wasn’t armed, “I’m glad to be wrong.”

“Sir,” Kanner’s voice crackled through their implants, “I’m taking the skytroopers powering down as a sign that you were successful?”

“Affirmative,” Aric replied, “Give me a count, Havoc - is everyone alright?”

“We’re good, sir,” Dengril said, “Me and Abbeth are both more or less unscathed.”

“Ditto for me and Torg,” Kanner said.

“All clear outside the compound,” Xaban noted, “And apologies about not warning you about the settlers, sir. I couldn’t cover them and also contact you.”

Aric looked to Pashna, “It’s all good, Xaban. Worked out in the end.”

“When we heard your call, we knew what had to be done,” Pashna explained, handing his grenade to Aoide, “We’ve spent our entire lives protected by our droids, by you. Now we need to protect ourselves.”

Aric thought for a moment, “What are your thoughts on having some training with those weapons?”

Pashna’s eyes lit up, “You would do that?”

“I think it would be the best use of my people.”

Pashna looked to Aoide, who deferred back to Aric, “It’s his squad. I just came along for the ride.”

“Thank you, Major Jorgan,” Pashna replied with a small bow, “You won’t regret this.”

Aoide swore he smiled a little as he nodded.

“You just focus on getting your operations set up, and getting your people what they need,” Aric said, “I’ll have the Alliance send supplies and keep in touch. The rest of Havoc will stay here until you’re ready to take on Arcann’s forces yourselves.”

He looked to Aoide, “I think it’s time Havoc Squad joined the Alliance, don’t you think?”

\---

Somewhere far out in the depths of space, the visage of a young woman could be seen. Golden brown skin, angular features, silvery eyes, and ebony hair. The scars of three claws ran down half of her face.

And she grinned.


	10. Visions in the Dark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> content warnings for implications and mentions of torture

_Why do you fight me, Wrath? I am not your enemy. We are one, bound together for eternity now. The faster you realize I am here to help you, the more pleasant our alliance will be._

_Get out of my head, you fucking psychopath! You will never be my ally, no matter how saccharine your lies are._

_You will not be strong enough to defeat my son without my help. Accept it, and we will end his reign. Together._

_Do you ever take a break?!_

_No. And neither should you - even now my son wreaks havoc across the worlds you hold most dear. He is tearing the galaxy apart in his childlike tantrums._

_Everything Arcann learned, he learned from you._

_No - I taught my weakest son how to rule. I taught him strength, strategy, law, culture. But one cannot teach a boy to have ambition._

_What you ‘taught’ him was that he would never be good enough for you! All of your children suffer because of what you ‘taught’ them!_

_Enough! I am not here to argue with you over trifling matters! I am disappointed in your lack of progress, my Wrath-_

_Stop calling me that!_

_Until you are more useful to me than that, all you are is the Wrath! When will you finally accept your destiny? You are meant for so much more than this petty banter! You were meant to rule the galaxy!_

_I don’t want the fucking galaxy, I want my life back!_

Raelyn rubbed her hands on her face as she tried to shake his visage from her mind. Gods, he was horrific, unbearable.

Lana touched her elbow softly and she nearly jumped out of her skin.

“My love? Is everything alright?” she asked quietly, already knowing the answer.

But Raelyn couldn’t tell her the truth, couldn’t bear to see the look of pain in her eyes if she told her Valkorion had returned in earnest, that he was insufferable now more than ever. That she hardly even had a moment to herself anymore without him berating her and dragging her through the muck.

So she bent back over the series of datapads that lit up on the desk in front of her. And she lied, “I’m fine, just a little overwhelmed with work.”

Valkorion just tsked at her.

Lana looked at her a little longer, still with her fingers on her forearm. But Raelyn held her face and wove their fingers together.

“It’s late, you know,” Lana replied, reaching over to turn out the lamp on the desk, “the work will still be there in the morning.”

Unspoken promises of Valkorion’s nightmares sent a shiver down her spine and she shook her head, “I’ll join you in a bit.”

She frowned, the creases of her lips shadowed by the faint blue lights of the datapads. Her face darkened, clearly aware that Raelyn was holding something from her. But if she had an accusation to make, she didn’t say it aloud.

Instead she frowned and squeezed the hand that held Raelyn’s.

“You can’t let the fate of the entire galaxy rest on your shoulders alone,” she said quietly, apologetically, “you are important to this Alliance, but you are more important to me. I won’t let you be sacrificed, Raelyn.”

She smiled weakly, “I know.”

“Then come to bed with me,” she insisted tiredly.

An image of a desolated world rested squarely in her mind - dust and sand blowing over canyons and skulls and bones. Formerly beautiful and triumphant architecture now reduced to rubble. Valkorion sneered, his smug face more a feeling than an image, as he began to explain how such a vibrant world could be reduced to ash so quickly.

Raelyn shivered again, words squeaking out of her mouth, “I can’t.”

Lana sighed and shook her head, pulling her hand out of Raelyn’s and pressing a kiss to her forehead before she ascended the four stairs to their bed without another word.

Raelyn balled the hand Lana had held into a fist and brought it to her mouth to keep her quiet sobs from escaping her.

_Pitiful thing you are. Are you really so exhausted that you cannot muster any anger in response to this?_

She didn’t dignify him with a reply, but that didn’t stop him from reading her mind anyway.

_Accept my powers, Raelyn. Accept the destiny laid out before you. Accept the fact that you are far worthier than this woman._

She put her head down on the desk and cried.

\---

“Talos!”

The tiny archaeologist dropped his duffel bag on the floor of the Fury and grinned as he met Messalina’s eyes on the other side of the room.

“My lord, it is quite an honor to be in your service once again,” he greeted with a low bow, “I’ll admit, I have sorely missed our adventures in the name of science and history.”

“And I have missed your bubbling enthusiasm for small rocks and fauna tracks, my dear Talos,” she replied.

He smiled genuinely - he was always genuine in his unabashed joy - and then looked around the room curiously.

“Andronikos should be returning any moment now,” Messalina said, answering his unasked question, “so I might suggest packing away your things so we can leave once he gets back.”

Talos nodded, “An excellent idea, my lord. I shall return forthwith.”

She looked back down at the datapad on her lap, at the details she’d been given by Lana about their mission. They were headed for Korriban - the former home of the Sith Academy and Dark Council, though having been ravaged by Arcann and his brother more than six years ago now, it was hardly more than a freezing cold barren wasteland. She couldn’t bring herself to return there before now. But not because of any sentimentality she held towards the Academy, Harkun, and the other Overseers who were now dead, their bodies crumbling into the landscape.

Korriban was a prison, and anyone who tried to say otherwise was either grossly ignorant or outright lying. The Sith Academy was not a place for acolytes to learn the teachings of the Force, it was a place for them to be tortured and molded into mindless killing machines. It was a place where lesser Sith - those not strong enough to become Darths - turned their frustrations on their students, made them suffer for their own shortcomings. It was a place where nepotism ran rampant, and if you were not part of a legacied family, you were cast aside like rubbish.

She hated Korriban. She hated the Sith Academy. She hated Harkun and the other Overseers. She hated those memories.

She curled her fingers into a fist and took a deep breath.

Korriban was gone. And plundering what remained seemed to be a fitting end to her relationship with that place. For how many times she had been violated and beaten, she could finally strike back.

While helping the galaxy, or whatever. She hated Arcann, too.

She half-heartedly tossed the datapad to the other end of the couch as Talos reappeared.

He hesitantly perched beside it and took it in his hands, skimming the information.

“Ahh, yes, I remember Darth Ouzal,” he said, but just as much to himself as to Messalina, “he was a paranoid and brittle little man. So protective of his work that he would never allow the Imperial Reclamation Service to be within a hundred meters of him while he dug up what artifacts he wanted. And then when we asked him to at least tell us the size of the thing and what he had done to extract it - so that we could continue the dig, mind you -, he’d storm off in a huff as if that was somehow unreasonable.”

Messalina snorted through her nose, “Classic.”

“He was infamous among us archaeologists,” he continued, “We would all dread the day we were informed that he would be visiting our sites. Poor Captain Holto was hit the worst - poor fellow had the great misfortune of studying Revanite artifacts. So of course Ouzal took over half of his dig sites and ended up killing him in a fit of paranoid rage.”

“How many times did you work with him?”

Talos thought for a moment, counting on his fingers, “Technically, thrice. Though the first time I was still a wee intern, so that hardly counted. The second time was on Malachor III, and he nearly ruined my career by disturbing the graves of a few particularly nasty ghosts who plagued us for months after. And the third was shortly before he died when he waltzed into a dig I was nearly finished with on Dantooine - he took every relic we found and absconded with them. The boor.”

She couldn’t help but giggle, “I take it no tears were shed when he died?”

“Oh, certainly not! We might have cheered if we were not afraid his apprentice would take over his work and commit worse atrocities!”

The door hissed open as the two of them were doubled over in laughter.

“Seems I missed the fun,” Andronikos quipped as he pressed a quick kiss to Messalina’s cheek, “We all set for Korriban?”

She wiped a tear from her eye and nodded, “I believe we are.”

\---

The next week was even worse.

She could only doze on and off, forcing herself awake as soon as the screams and the choking cries of a Pureblood woman manifested in her mind.

Valkorion was deliberately torturing her now, she knew that much. But to what end? She had no idea.

 _I am disappointed with your lack of progress_ , he whined again, _I have given you every opportunity to accept my power and strike Arcann down and yet you still hesitate! And for no other reason than your own paranoia! How many more millions of people must die because of your hubris?_

She pinched the bridge of her nose and tried not to think about it.

But he would not shut up. He tormented her in the shower, as she got dressed, as she ate, as she read reports, as she went to meetings.

_You think you can outlast me, Wrath? I have been waiting for millennia! I will make you rue the day you made me your enemy!_

She took a deep breath and sighed. This was honestly almost worse than being trapped in her own weird mindscape with him for five years. But she looked over to Lana and drew as much strength as she could to ignore him and focus on the tasks at hand.

Lana casually touched her elbow with the tips of her fingers again, not even looking at her.

“Darth Nox should reach Korriban soon,” Rimea noted, and Raelyn looked up to the screen in the middle of the table they all sat around, “Hopefully there’s still something of use there.”

_I do not know what you hope to achieve by this petty little roundabout excavation. You know where the answers lie._

She rubbed her temple with her hand as the others talked and planned, mumbling affirmatives whenever she noticed their attentions were on her. She trusted them to make decisions - far more than she trusted herself in this moment.

Lana’s eyes lingered on her longer than the others and occasionally her hand would drift down to Raelyn’s thigh, where she rubbed back and forth on the outside of her leg. She wanted to lean against her, let her take her burdens. But she couldn’t - not with the others around, not with Valkorion to taunt her weakness.

_I chose you for your strength and passion, Wrath. You’ve done nothing but flounder since I saved you._

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Lana. She did, she trusted her with her most coveted secrets and with her own life. She loved her and wanted to spend the rest of her life with her. She still played with the engagement ring from time to time whenever the two of them were separated.

But Lana was the reason the Alliance was holding together. Say what she will about Raelyn being its Commander or the reason it was formed in the first place. Lana ran the day-to-day operations, coordinated scouting and surveillance missions, organized their information on Arcann and his allies, checked on the Sith and Republic. Her mind was so mathematical, so meticulous, nothing escaped her grasp as she wrangled spies and warriors and accountants. She had so much on her shoulders already, Raelyn couldn’t ask her to bear anything else.

She was so proud of Lana, she couldn’t bear to see the disappointment on her face if she admitted how afraid she was.

 _I thought the Sith embraced fear,_ Valkorion remarked, _that it made you stronger. Look at yourself, Wrath. You are disheveled, sleep-deprived, barely able to focus on anything. You don’t belong here with them._

Raelyn inhaled through her teeth, _You’re right. I don’t belong here with them. Not with you around._

She touched Lana’s shoulder and excused herself from the meeting, refusing to meet the eyes of everyone in the room as they followed her out.

\---

“What exactly are we looking for, again?” Messalina asked as Andronikos brought the ship down in an empty plateau.

Talos strapped his blaster to his hip and checked the straps on his backpack, “We are searching for the tomb of Marka Ragnos. It is the tomb where you found the first of Tulak Hord’s relics, if you recall, my lord.”

She blew out of her nose, “I remember. But that tomb was plundered and pillaged dozens of times over - I’m not sure what else you expect to find there that the Sith missed.”

The archaeologist just hummed thoughtfully, “Darth Ouzal was convinced that if he could just enter the tomb through the buried ceremonial entrance, that he would find some sort of artifact critical to his research. But he could never find a way to unblock it.”

The ship landed with a gentle thud, and then pops and hisses as the atmospheric pressure adjusted to the outside.

Andronikos was halfway into his jacket as he descended the stairs from the cockpit to the lounge.

“No signs of life out there other than the occasional slug or tuk’ata, but knowing how Sith have a hard time staying dead, we should probably keep our eyes open,” he commented.

“Not to worry, Nikos, I’ll eat anyone who tries to hurt you,” Messalina purred in reply, putting a hand on his chest and licking her lips.

He laughed and picked her up by the waist to kiss her on the lips, “Always appreciate that, Lina.”

Talos cleared his throat uncomfortably, “Shall we go, then?”

Andronikos gently put his wife back on the floor with a satisfied grin, “We should be about a klick from the tomb - this was the only sturdy ground I could find close to the coordinates.”

Talos and Messalina both nodded with determination and excitement in their eyes. Andronikos just laughed and shook his head - he clearly was a bit out of his comfort zone in a trek like this, but she appreciated his support all the same.

She wrapped a scarf around her face and head to protect her hair and chin tendrils from the dust storms which raged even more frequently after Zakuul’s destruction. Talos put on a white helmet and goggles and gave them a thumbs up. He looked ridiculous.

The three of them disembarked together - Andronikos holding a pair of shovels, Messalina with her lightsaber and datapad with the coordinates to the tomb’s entrance, and Talos with everything they would need once they got inside. Brushes, trowels, hoes, scanners, notes, etc.

The sun had just risen in the east, the frigid night air still hanging around them. The wind brushed past them, but not yet at its strongest. Good, better to make the trek now, and then have the shelter of the tomb when the afternoon dust storms came flying in.

She looked up the cliff faces to see the crumbling walls of the old Sith Academy. If she hadn’t stepped foot herself into that monstrosity as a teenager, she might have thought Revan herself had caused its destruction centuries ago.

The destruction on Korriban far surpassed the images on the holonet - the entire planet reeked of the lingering scent of death. Fear still hung in the air from the bodies littering the landscape. Some were partially buried under collapsed statues, others were eaten by the roaming tuk’ata or k’lorslugs, and others still had been covered by the blowing red sands. Tombs were buried, the grand carvings of their masters felled and broken and chipped.

She looked up at the Sith Academy again and fought to keep herself from lashing out at it.

The wind whipped against her robes and she held her scarf in place while she waited for it to pass.

“My lord? Everything alright?” Talos asked her earnestly.

She nodded, “Perfectly. Let’s get on with it.”

\---

She found herself in the Odessen wilds, away from the entire Alliance compound, walking the trails slowly. She came to a clearing, a small pond beside a rock face nearly four meters high. A breeze brushed against her and she breathed in the air deeply.

_You are wasting more time! My children destroy the galaxy while you go gallivanting through the woods? For what purpose is this?_

She exhaled sharply, whatever peace she had had now thoroughly evaporated.

“You want a fight, old man?” Raelyn said aloud in the quiet, “Then come out and fight me. Finish the job you so desperately wanted to start.”

She _felt_ him enter the space more than she saw him. Valkorion, in his ethereal form, still wore the ceremonial garb he donned as Zakuulan Emperor - which was strange to Raelyn, as he had taken so many forms in his life, what made him so attached to this one? He was still more of a presence than an image, but she shuddered as she felt him climb out of her mindspace and take a more physical form.

“You’re shorter than I remember,” she commented dryly.

Valkorion replied by pushing her off her feet into the sand, screaming with rage, “ _Enough!_ What will it take to get you to accept that you are beyond petty quibbling? You are destined for greatness, Wrath, not for meaningless insults!”

“What will it take?” she repeated, “Get out of my head, you piece of shit! Or at least let me die!”

He narrowed his eyes at her, “No, I’ll not grant you that release.”

Raelyn exhaled, “Because of course. You’re willing to do anything so long as it’s exactly what you want to do. You’re willing to manipulate me and your wife and your children, willing to eat the entire fucking galaxy, willing to let Arcann rip your work apart - and for what? I fail to see how my destiny to rule the galaxy benefits you. And you’ve never done anything that doesn’t benefit you.”

“I’ve already told you my son squanders his power in childish tantrums. The galaxy needs a firmer hand, it needs _your_ hand.”

“Then get a rock to rule the galaxy! Carve it into your own likeness for all I care!” she balled her hands into fists at her sides, knowing that once she let go of her rage, he would too, “Give it sentience and go back to ruling like always! _But leave me out of this!_ I’m tired of your stupid mind games!”

Red ringed around her vision as her fury grew, and Valkorion’s image solidified in front of her in hues of scarlet. Her heart raced in her chest and she could feel the blood and adrenaline pumping through her veins.

He stood in front of her with a wry grin.

“No more mind games,” she repeated, her voice shaking, “Let’s go, old man. You and me.”

She reached for her lightsabers, extending their silver blades out in front of her.

“Even in my present form, I am far too much for you, my dear,” he taunted.

Raelyn screamed and used the Force to propel her forward in a leap, “I. Am. _Not_. Yours!”

Her lightsabers clashed against the shield Valkorion erected and he just chuckled, pushing her back sliding on the balls of her feet. She screamed again and met the same impenetrable shield. Gods, he couldn’t even pretend that she had a chance.

Instead he sneered, throwing out his arms and pushing her onto her back twenty feet from him, “You rely too heavily on your _Alliance_. You allow sycophants and betrayers to do the job that is yours alone! You lean on them - be stronger than them!”

Raelyn stood and growled at him, “They _are_ my strength!”

“They are your weakness,” he snarled, sending bolts of lightning out of his fingers towards her.

She rolled out of the way, back towards the woods and then forward toward him as he let out another shock. Raelyn hurled her right lightsaber at him, feeling impressively smug as she heard the singe of burning flesh.

“So you can be hurt after all,” she said, recalling the lightsaber back to her and planting her feet beneath her in case he wanted to lash out with a wall of Force again.

He grunted and wiped the burn mark off his arm, though his robes were torn where the saber had hit, “Of course not.”

She dashed towards him in a mad whirlwind, just hoping to scare him.

But of course as soon as she got close, he teleported behind her and pushed her forward with another wall of the Force so she fell on her face.

Again she stood up. She wiped the dirt off her clothes and face, and she turned to him.

“Do you think I became the most powerful being in the galaxy by trusting and loving others?” he asked her from across the plain.

Raelyn shrugged, “I thought you said you loved Senya.”

He laughed, his harsh and grating and bitter laugh sending shudders through her entire body, “Senya served a purpose. I needed an heir, a replacement for this body once it withered and died.”

“ _You sick monster_ ,” she cried, “These are actual people, Vitiate! They are not things, they are not toys, they are not vessels to carry you! And _neither am I!_ ”

She leaped towards him again, knowing she wouldn’t penetrate the shield, but that she had to try anyway. She railed against it, watched the purple sparks fly as her lightsabers crashed against it again and again and again. She was sure she was crying - frustration and fear and exhaustion all bubbling up and out of her at once.

He pushed her backwards again, tipped her onto her back, and pinned her wrists to the ground with the Force. Raelyn squirmed and wriggled, but she felt how heavy he was on her arms. And she felt just how tired she was.

“You’ve seen my power,” he continued, “Believe in my methods. If you wish to save the galaxy from my son, let go of your attachments, let go of this pitiful Alliance, let go of that pathetic woman you call your lover.”

She thought of Lana then, saw her golden eyes and hair in her mind. She embraced her warmth, wrapped herself in the comforting sense of her Force signature.

And she felt fire in her veins, molten iron in her lungs, rage building in her fingertips like hot embers.

And she let out her anger all at once.

Valkorion brought his hand to his face as fire raged around him, as the physical manifestation of Raelyn’s frustration and fury surrounded them.

She knew her eyes were red, she knew her clothes were singed, she knew the trees closest to her were burning. But none of that registered in her mind. All she saw was the monster in front of her, smirking in spite of the blazes around him.

She recalled her lightsabers to her hands and leaped at him, bringing with her a wall of heat and flames.

She blasted through his shield and pushed him backwards onto his back before she threw out her arm and the following line of white hot fire.

“ _Get. Out,_ ” she demanded, voice echoing through the wilderness with a wildness that she herself couldn’t recognize, “ _Get out of my head!_ ”

He grinned and laughed, shooting lightning out of his hand. But she blocked it with her lightsaber as she prowled forward. Blocking the lightning with one saber and holding the other beside her, letting the tip drag across the ground, she stalked forward, refusing to take her eyes off of the monster on the ground before her.

Valkorion wrapped himself in another shield, his physical form blinking in and out of existence as he attempted to teleport himself somewhere out of Raelyn’s reach. She felt a weight pressing on her - her own exhaustion, perhaps - pushing her to the ground. But she was _so close_ to finishing him, to ending their bizarre and toxic game.

“ _Wrath,_ ” came another voice from the shadows, one deep and rich and so familiar, “ _Stop. Let us take this burden from you._ ”

“No!” she screamed, “Let me do this!”

She took two more steps forward, dragging her feet in the sandy terrain, watched Valkorion’s eyes flicker in surprise for a moment as he was strapped to the ground by an invisible force - probably the same one pushing her down.

She fell to her knee, lightsabers still extended, their heat melting the sand it touched as she fought to keep her balance.

“Raelyn, please,” a second voice called, gentle and lilting, “We can help you. You need not fight him alone.”

Raelyn felt tears on her cheeks, the flames of her ire dying out as she struggled onward. Her vision slowly faded from red to black.

“Let me kill him,” she begged, both hands on the ground, “Let me end this.”

“Your connection is too complex for that to be a viable option,” the second voice replied, and she felt a hand on her shoulder, “You would die with him.”

“ _But fear not_ ,” the first voice added, “ _We will see that he does not harm you again._ ”

She disengaged her lightsabers and put her hand against her pocket, feeling the ring there, trying to draw strength from the image of Lana again.

Instead, she fell unconscious.

\---

“It’s almost worse now than when it was full of Sith,” Andronikos noted, “feel like I’m being watched, y’know?”

Messalina scoffed, “Believe me, when this planet was full of Sith, you were being watched. Constantly. The bones here would just like you to believe that they can do the same.”

“Fair enough.”

Talos yelped ten feet below them, harnessed to a rope halfway down into the tomb of Marka Ragnos.

“You alright?” Andronikos asked, his voice echoing throughout the cavern the poor archaeologist hung in.

He coughed to gather himself, “Oh, I’m fine, I’m fine. Just a teensy on edge from the last tomb we opened!”

Messalina made a side eye at him, knowing he couldn’t actually see her, “It was one spirit! And I handled it!”

She heard him cough again and his flashlight scanned the hollow below, uncovering murals that had gone untouched and unseen for centuries. Messalina recognized Marka Ragnos’ battle with Lord Simus, and the latter’s subsequent beheading, but many of the rest of the stories had gone untold in her time at the Academy. Perhaps they were lost entirely.

Andronikos loosened the rope a little and slowly lowered Talos into the tomb.

“Any ghosts yet?” Andronikos called down to him.

“No,” the archaeologist replied, voice shaking a little, “But my lord, it may be worth readying your lightsaber. Just in case.”

“Can you see the bottom yet?” she asked.

There was a pause and a flicker of the flashlight, “Barely. Seems sturdy enough. This tomb was meant to last, I’ll tell you that much. Even after centuries of looting and erosion and outright destruction, the ceremonial chamber looks basically untouched.”

“Excellent,” Messalina replied, though more to Andronikos than Talos, “Think you can handle things up here?”

“Aye aye,” he replied with a wink, “Just be safe down there.”

She kissed him so hard he almost dropped the rope, eliciting a terrified yell from Talos below. She shoved her tongue in his mouth for just a second before she pulled back and smirked.

“If I die down there,” she said, checking that her lightsaber was secured to her waist, “Remember that kiss for the rest of your days, Andronikos Revel.”

He blinked a few times and nodded, “You certainly know how to woo a guy. Be safe down there, Messalina.”

She nodded and winked before she plummeted down the hole, bracing her fall with a push of the Force before she landed on her feet gracefully on the floor of the tomb. Talos hung in the air five feet above her.

“Magnificent as always, my lord!”

She laughed and lit a spark with her fingers to get a better view of the room - Force-sensitivity did not grant her nightvision, unfortunately.

Surprisingly, as soon as she rubbed her fingers together, a dozen torches lit around the ovular room.

It wasn’t a large room, as it was only the ceremonial vestibule. But the walls were highly decorated with shimmering paint and gold, the lavishness of them only visible with the entire space lit up. The floor was covered in broken and scattered ancient droid pieces - Messalina herself had landed between a head piece of one and the foot of another. In the center of the room there was an altar of sorts made of stone. There were four objects set atop it - a scepter, a pair of gauntlets, and a holocron.

An old holocron by the looks of it.

Talos finally reached the floor and stepped out of the harness, taking images of every inch of the space and making copious notes about the droids.

“This is really very similar to our adventure in the tomb on Hoth,” he commented, snapping another picture.

Messalina hummed noncommittally in response, eyes trained on the altar. The Dark Side emanated strongly from it, its power pulling her in. And yet, curiously, there was a pinch of Light from it, as well. She scanned the items on the altar’s surface and immediately spotted the culprit - the holocron.

She reached for it, but Talos appeared suddenly and put a hand to her shoulder, “Wait a moment, if you would. Satisfy this silly archaeologist’s curiosity, would you?”

Her trance broken, she looked at him and sighed, “What?”

“I can’t help but think that laying these clearly precious items on this very open slab of rock is perhaps, too easy,” he explained, “No one knows your strength as well as I, my lord, but even I hesitate to think you could swallow Marka Ragnos as you did Darth Andru.”

Messalina paused for a moment, and looked around the room.

“Talos,” she said slowly, “tell me, do you feel the power of this place?”

He nodded, “Of course, Marka Ragnos was one of the most powerful Sith to have ever existed in our galaxy. His remains-”

“No, Talos,” she interrupted, “Do you _feel_ it?”

He frowned, “Surely, my lord, you already know I possess no talent in the Force. How could I possibly feel the power you describe?”

“Stop talking for a moment,” she instructed, “and feel the air around us. It is stale and stagnant. Nothing has touched this place in centuries. Nothing has passed through here, for even without the Force, something would be unsettled. But look - “ she pointed to the footprints on the floor, printed in the dust and leading from the altar to the front entrance, “- not even the fragile indentations of a boot print have been disturbed.”

Talos nodded, “I still think it imprudent to touch artifacts of Sith Lords without any sort of protection.”

She shook her head, “I do not intend to touch the artifacts of the Sith Lord. Marka Ragnos’ scepter and gauntlets mean nothing to me. Their power is far outweighed by the cost of being bound to him. But that holocron-” she pointed to it, watching Talos’ eyes grow larger, “- that holocron does not and did not belong to the former Sith Lord who still inhabits this place. That is the holocron of a reformed Jedi. And I bet even you - blind as you are to the Force - can sense that.”

Talos scratched his head, “I really cannot, my lord, but I’ll believe you.”

Messalina shook her head and reached for the holocron, carefully avoiding Marka Ragnos’ actual artifacts. The little sliver of Light Side shrank as she touched it, but no Sith Lord manifested from the walls, so that was fine.

“Shall we?” she asked Talos as she faced him, holocron in her hands.

She focused on the Force, on the intricate mechanisms that held a holocron together, willing them into just the right position so that it lit up in her hands and vibrated as an image of a young woman poured out. Her image was filtered blue, but Messalina could still see her dark hair and scars of three claws down her face.

_“I hope you aren’t expecting a congratulations.”_

\---

Raelyn awoke next to a dying fire, warm embers exuding enough heat to keep her from freezing in the night air. Her head was pounding.

“Fuck,” she muttered as she sat upright and immediately wished she hadn’t.

“Take it easy,” a soft and lilting voice spoke from across the fire, “You’ve had a difficult day.”

She put a hand to her forehead, attempting to press out the ache residing there. But she quickly felt a flow of the Force easing her pain.

“Thanks,” she muttered, her vision clearing enough to see who sat with her.

There were two figures on the other side of the fire, both sitting cross-legged in meditation. One was an older woman, long gray braided hair and blue eyes in familiar dark robes. The other was a Force apparition, wearing the spiked and heavy armor of a Sith warrior.

“What the fuck?” was all Raelyn could say, “Satele? Marr? What sort of hallucinogenic drugs did you give me?”

Satele smiled gently, but she did not look up, “No hallucinations. No drugs. The Force guided us here to you.”

“You sure it wasn’t just Valkorion?”

Marr chuckled, his voice still filtering through the mask on his face, “We are quite positive.”

With her head finally cleared, Raelyn looked around the camp - it was simple, but had clearly been lived in for some time. Stew was steaming beside the fire, freshly prepared. Satele’s ship created a dark shadow in the distance behind them. Tables were strewn with datapads and recordings.

A few creatures dared to gather near their campsite, but seemed disinterested in their food. Insects chirped and buzzed away in the cool Odessen night. Raelyn tried to get her bearings and determine where she was, but saw nothing that would point her towards the base. Towards home.

She grimaced, expecting Valkorion to mock her for her sentimentality. But there was only silence in her mind.

“I could not let go of the past,” Marr explained unprompted, “My reason for existing had not yet passed, and so I followed the will of the Force here. We both knew the Emperor attached himself to you so completely, so wholly, that we could not simply rip his consciousness from you. So we studied together, to find a way to quell him until you could fight him yourself.”

“We have spent the last two years consulting the Noetikons,” Satele added, “Kalina’s shielding technique is a great skill, but one that requires far too much sacrifice. I brought all the knowledge I had to this place, away from the war, away from the Light and the Dark. Marr and I have altered the shielding technique that Kalina knows. It requires both of our efforts, but does not deplete our strength in the same permanent way. And Valkorion will be locked from your consciousness - and you from his - until a more permanent solution can be found.”

Raelyn looked from the Jedi Master to the Sith Lord, a single word on her mind, “Why?”

Satele smiled, and she swore that Marr was amused beneath his mask.

The Jedi responded, “Because you are strong enough to defeat Arcann. You always have been.”


End file.
